Peeta's Story
by secretTHGluver
Summary: We all know Katniss's side of the story, but what about Peeta? What went through Peeta's head before, during, and after the Games? How much does Peeta really love Katniss? Why does Haymitch like to call Peeta 'the boy? How did Peeta feel about sleeping with Katniss on the train? What did Snow do to Peeta in the Capitol? All these questions plus more will be answered in this story.
1. THG: the reaping

**Hi! So I was reading the Hunger Games and I wondered what would be going through Peeta's head when all this is happening. So I wrote Peeta's side of the Hunger Games. I hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Hunger Games.**

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I am awaken by a banging on my bedroom door. My mother is yelling for me to get up. I slowly rise up from under the sheets and walk over to the only window in my room. My window looks over the backyard of the bakery. The window is pretty small like the rest of my room because my room is the smallest one of the entire bakery. There are six rooms in total and three bathrooms. There are three upstairs and three downstairs. The three upstairs are claimed by my parents and two older brothers. The three downstairs are claimed by me and the bakery. The actual bakery itself is one large room divided in the front. The room next to me is the bakery storage area. Now my mom is telling me to come to the table for breakfast. I didn't realize that I was staring blankly out the window I keep open when I sleep. I quickly shut the window and walk out to find that my family has already started eating without me. I sit down in the empty chair and eat my toast and eggs in silence. This is natural for my family, especially on Reaping Day. Today is the day that the Capitol selects one girl and boy between the ages of 12 and 18 to participate in the Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games is an event where 24 tributes fight to the death until one remains to be crowned victor. District 12 has only one living victor named Haymitch Abernathy. He is a drunk who won the 50th Hunger Games. District 12 is the poorest district of Panem. Seeing people starve to death is the normal here. The Hunger Games gives those starving families a chance for tessera. Tessera is when you can put in more entries in return of food. I think the whole Hunger Games thing is unfair, but no one is allowed to question the Capitol. Luckily no one in my family has to sign up for tessera, but I do feel bad for those who have to sign up for tessera. I keep wishing for something I could do to help these people, but what could a baker's son do. My oldest brother, Brody, breaks the silence.

"Are you nervous about today. You're fidgeting…like a lot," he tells me.

"No. I'm just not in the mood to eat," I say not looking up from my plate. I've been playing with my food this whole time.

"Well, if your not going to eat. Go get ready," my mother tells me coldly. After sixteen years of living with her I have gotten used to not being her favorite. I walk back to my room and get ready.

After about an hour, I'm all clean and dressed and my hair is brushed neatly on my head. I walk back to the kitchen preparing myself for today. The Reaping doesn't start until two o'clock, but at one o'clock we're suppose to head to the square to sign in. The only ones to sign in is me and my other brother Seth. In the meantime my brothers and I knead the dough we're going to bake later. We work in silence until I speak up.

"So, Seth. This is your last year your eligible. You have to be relieved about that, right," I ask him. He glances at me and back at the dough he's working on.

"Yeah. I just hope that I don't get picked," he says to me. Everybody hopes they don't get picked, but two people will get picked anyway. I still have this year and two years after that to worry about. I hope to lighten his mood for today. I don't want him to keep worrying about today. I can tell he's nervous by the way he's kneading the dough.

"Don't worry everything will be okay," I tell him. I don't like to see anybody distressed even people I don't know.

At one o'clock my family and I head out toward the square to sign in. My parents and Brody take their place in the crowd while me and Seth get in line to sign in. I look over the group of kids that has began to gather. My eyes immediately land on a small group containing a little girl with blonde hair with the look of fear on her face. A dark browned girl kneels before her trying to calm her down. The little girl is Primrose Everdeen and the girl comforting her is her older sister Katniss Everdeen. These girls have been through a lot since their dad died. Every year on Reaping Day I hope that Katniss never gets picked and now I hope Primrose doesn't get picked either. This is her first year so I understand why she is so scared. I've been so preoccupied watching them that I didn't notice that I was next in line.

"Hand please." The lady tells me. She pricks my finger and draws the blood that appeared and scans it. Then I'm off towards the group of sixteen year old boys. The clock strikes two and the mayor walks up to the podium. He begins to tell us the same old story about the history of Panem and the Dark Days all leading up to the creation of the Hunger games. I've stopped listening like I do every year around the middle of the story. Right now I'm hoping like I always do that Katniss, Seth, Delly, Calum, and now Primrose don't get selected. I also hope I don't get selected either. At this point the mayor has stopped talking and Haymitch staggers on stage obviously very drunk. The crowd applauses including me because I find it funny watching Haymitch try and a give Effie Trinket a big hug. The look on the mayor's face is priceless. I guess he knows like the rest of us that District 12 is the laughing stock right now of Panem. He quickly introduces Effie Trinket, District 12's escort. She walks up to the podium with her pink hair and green suit and says bright and bubbly

" Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!" She starts ranting on about what an honor it is to be here. Here comes the moment I dread when she selects the names of the two tributes. "Ladies first," she says and walks over to a glass ball containing the girl's names. She digs around the ball and pulls out a slip of paper. She walks back over to the podium and you could hear the crowd collect their breath as she reads out the name. "Primrose Everdeen." Oh, no.

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**There, you go. I really hope you liked it. I don't know if I should continue, I hope to continue. Tell me if I should continue the story or change anything about the story. I can take criticism. Please review.**

**~ secretTHGluver ~**


	2. THG: the volunteer

**Hello fellow Hunger Games lover. Here is the second chapter of Peeta's Story. I just hope that you actually like this story. My goal is make it exactly like the book, but in Peeta's POV. So, here it goes.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Hunger Games.**

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I can't believe it. I look down at my shoes while everyone else watches her. I can't bare to watch this little girl walk up to her death. This can't be happening. This girl is only twelve years old. I can't believe the Capitol allows things like this to happen. The Capitol has a twisted form of entertainment. Watching children kill each other on screen. I want to do something right now. I want to stop her from walking up that stage….but I just keep my eyes locked on the ground. Little Primrose...Katniss's little sister can't really be the one person out of thousands of slips to be selected… Then something both a blessing and a curse happens. Blessing: Primrose doesn't have to face death. Curse: now Katniss has to face death. I finally look up as Katniss frantically makes her way towards the stage crying out "Prim. Prim!" When Katniss reaches her, she sweeps her behind her as she gasps," I volunteer. I volunteer as tribute!"

I still can't believe what's happening. I feel like I'm living in one of my nightmares where the girl I love gets taken away from me before I get to tell her how I feel. As the mayor is telling Katniss she can come forward, Prim wraps her arms around her while shrieking for her not to go. Then I hear Katniss harshly tell her to let go. I can tell from where I'm standing that she wants to cry. I want to walk over there and tell them that everything going to be okay so badly. I hate seeing people upset even if they deserve to be upset, but these girls don't deserve to be upset which makes me very upset. Now I really want to get selected, I want to go in and protect her and make sure that she comes back home to her sister and I could…I could…what can I do? I'm nothing more than a baker's son, what can I do to protect her. She's better off going in with her best friend Gale… at least I think they're friends…they could be something more…I hope not. Then Gale comes from his group and picks Prim up and takes her to her mother, while Prim continues to scream. I look back to the stage even though I don't want to and see Haymitch talking to Katniss. I've stopped listening…I've stopped seeing the present. Instead I'm seeing the image of present Katniss morph into five year old Katniss. My father stands next to me and I'm just staring at Katniss bravely waiting in line next to her mother outside of school on the very first day.

That is how she is standing now. She stands there bravely waiting for the name of the boy tribute. I avert my glance to Effie as she walks over to the boy's glass ball. I'm really hoping Gale Hawthorne gets picked. From watching Gale and Katniss at the Hob, I can tell how much they mean to each other. I'm sure Gale would the perfect one to go in with her. I know for a fact that he would protect her…to make sure she comes home. Effie drops her hand in the ball and pulls out the first slip she touches. I watch her open the slip as if it is in slow motion. Please be Gale…..Please be Gale. "Peeta Mellark." Great…that's my name.

I look up at the stage and begin making my way. I feel everyone's eyes on me including Katniss's. I just continue looking straight ahead of me, but I can tell that people know I'm shocked by the look on their faces. When I get to the stage, I avoid looking at Katniss. Although I can feel her staring at me. I think she recognizes me from the Hob. From time to time, when my mom isn't around, I convince my dad to let me and Brody go to the Hob and sell stale bread for a cheaper price. This is the only thing I thought of to help the starving families. The bread we don't sale we're suppose to feed to the pigs when we get home, but I give it to the families that can't buy even the stale bread. When I'm at the Hob, sometimes I see Katniss and Gale trading game and plants. They never trade with me or Brody; they always trade with my dad for fresh bread.

The Mayor is now speaking of the Treaty of Treason and when he finishes he turns to face us. He motions for us to shake hands. I turn and face Katniss. This has to be the closest I've ever been to her. I look into her beautiful grey eyes and shake her hand. I suddenly feel a warmth in my hand run up my arm and spread through my chest. I feel like that term I heard people say when their nervous when you feel like there's butterflies in your stomach. Because of my nervousness, I feel my grip tighten around her hand and then I let go and face the crowd again while the anthem plays. How am I suppose to protect her against 22 other tributes. Apparently the odds aren't in my favor right now.

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**Their you go. I hope you like it. Please review. Tell me what you think about it so far. My goal right now is to update everyday, but I'll see how that goes.**

**~ secretTHGluver ~**


	3. THG: the goodbyes

**Alright, here is the third chapter of Peeta's Story. Hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Hunger Games.**

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Just as the anthem ends, we're guided into the Justice Building and placed in a room where I'm supposed to say goodbye to my loved ones. I look around my room. It's actually nice if it wasn't for the fact that this is the last time I'll be able to see my family. My parents come in first. My dad immediately pulls me into a hug. My mom just stands there with her arms crossed over her chest. When my dad releases me, he tells me.

"Look, son, I know you don't have the heart to kill anyone," that's true I don't want to kill anybody. "But please at least try to come home. I love you… remember that." I don't plan on coming home, but hearing this at least comforts my death sentence.

"Thank you dad, I love you too." I say. My eyes begin to get teary and I let one fall while I blink away the rest.

"Peeta," my mom tell me hesitantly," in the Capitol don't do anything foolish to disgrace your family." Typical, she can't just tell me that she cares about me. Not even if this is our last time seeing each other. "I have a feeling that this year District 12 might finally have a winner." I look at her with surprise. She didn't really tell me that did she. "She's a survivor, that one." I should take that as an insult, but I agree with her. Katniss is a survivor and I will try my best to make sure she wins. I look at my mom….really look at her as in look her right in her eye. I see sorrow and actual emotion. She quickly averts her glance to the door hoping that their time is up.

"I'll make sure the Kat's Rose will be fed," my dad tells me. Ever since my dad found out that I had a crush on Katniss we would talk in code about them. I remember the day he found out as if it was only eight years ago.

My brothers and I were walking home from school. We have a certain path to get back to the bakery that involves walking past the entrance to the Seam. Everyday, I watch Katniss walk home with Prim to their house in the Seam. So that day, I was watching them and walking at the same time. I didn't realize that Seth was talking to me and so when I looked at him I had walked straight into a wall. They were laughing the whole way home. My dad questioned what was so funny and they told him that I walked into a wall because I was preoccupied with something. Then they went upstairs to work on their homework. My dad sat me down to look at the red mark that appeared where I had hit myself.

"What happened? It's rare when you're lost in thought," he tells me. I wasn't sure if I should tell him especially with my mom in the next room, but I decided to anyway.

"I wasn't lost in thought. I was just watching my friend walk home," I admit to him. Katniss isn't my friend, but I don't think I can tell him the full truth.

"Which girl were you watching that caught you completely off guard or boy? I don't judge," he asks me raising his eyebrow. I'm the only one that he can humor with because everybody else takes it too seriously. Should I do it? I shouldn't do it. No, I should, he would understand.

"Katniss…." I say barely audible.

"What did you say I couldn't hear?"

"Katniss Everdeen." I say louder, but not too loud for anyone but my dad to hear. He sighs and looks at me for quite a while. I feel like I should walk away to my room and pretend like I didn't say anything.

"That actually…..explains a lot," he admits to me. "That's why you like to walk past the Seam on your to school and sometimes I see you stare at her whenever she walks past the bakery." So he has caught onto some of my habits. I nod. He smiles at me and walks back to his oven to get back to work.

My mom walks out immediately when she hears the knock on the door. Before my dad leaves, he turns around and tells me, "Remember, son, that you're your own person. You make your own decisions." then he walks out staring at the floor. My brothers then walk in.

"Congratulations," Brody tells me.

"Thanks."

"We're going to be here for you. Cheering you on," Seth adds giving my the hint of a sad smile. "I'm sorry for all the times I was an ass to you." Old school swearing. It's very popular lately. Old school swearing came before the Hunger Games and Dark Days, but it has caught on these days.

"Me too," Brody says to me giving a one armed hug.

"Thanks guys."

"You may not know it, but you can be a bad ass if you try," Seth tells me giving me a crooked smirk.

'I'll keep that in mind." With that said they walk out and my best friends Calum and Delly come in. They immediately hug me.

"How do you feel," she asks me after they release me.

"I'm fine."

"When you're there, Peeta, know that we're all here supporting you," Calum says to me. He gives me a quick one armed hug. "I gotta go back to my family. Good luck Peeta." he walks out leaving me and Delly alone. Delly also knows about my crush on Katniss.

"I'm worried that you might try something stupid in the Games, so tell me your plan right now." She always talks to me like I'm little brother even though I'm older than her by like four months.

"What do you mean?"

"As your best friend, I truly know that you don't plan on coming home and that you won't let anyone kill Katniss. So, what's your plan?"

"I don't know. I guess I could try to keep as many tributes away from her as possible." It's not really a plan or even a goal, just an idea. I don't have a plan and my goal is make sure Katniss comes home.

"Well….what if you have Haymitch help you. He is your mentor." she always tries to see the bright side to everything. I doubt Haymitch will be sober enough to give us any advice let alone help us with a plan.

"I doubt he'd help me." I pull her into a hug, but in the middle of our hug a Peacekeeper comes in and ushers her out. I sit down and the reality of never returning finally sets in. I'll probably be dead in a month. A part of me feels pride knowing that I'd be dieing to save someone else's life and probably her family as well and other families that really on trading with her for fresh game. So, in reality, I'd be saving multiple lives.

Once at the train station, I regret crying because the photographing me looking like a wimp and the other tributes probably would see me like a weakling. We have to stand in the middle of the doorway for a few minutes before we're let on the train. I look around the tribute train. It is even nicer than inside the Justice Building. I'm in complete awe looking all around me. I think the whole bedroom itself is bigger than the bakery and this is only on the train. I can't imagine what the Training Center will look like. I decide to take advantage of the warm bathroom and take a warm shower. At home, by the time it's my turn to take a shower the water is cold. After I shower, I put on a comfortable white shirt and some comfortable faded light blue pants. I hear Effie knock on my door telling me it's time for supper. I follow her to the Dining Car and take a seat. She leaves to call Katniss. I sit there in silence until Haymitch staggers through the door.

"Boy tell her I'm going to take a nap," he says a least that was what it sounded like to me. He walk through the other door and disappears. A little while later Effie shows up with a refreshed Katniss in a green top with a little gold bird pinned to it.

"Where's Haymitch?" asks Effie brightly.

"Last time I saw him, he said he was going to take a nap," I inform them.

"Well, it's been an exhausting day," she says. Is it just me or is she actually happy he isn't here with us. I would be too, but I need to talk to him about how I'm suppose to protect Katniss. I need to get him alone.

We eat our supper in different courses. One after the other. We all get thick carrot soup, green salad, lamb chops and mashed potatoes, cheese and fruit, and even a chocolate cake. Nobody speaks except for Effie, who keeps reminding us to save space because more is coming. I don't care what she says; this has to be the best food I've ever eaten. By the time we're finishing the main course Effie comments on our manners.

"At least, you two have decent manners," she tells us. "The pair last year ate everything with their hands like a couple of savages. It completely upset my digestion."

I knew the pair last year. They were two kids from the Seam that from time to time I've seen eat food scraps from the floor that has been stepped on and everything. I don't even think they ever had hardly anything to eat in their lives. So, I don't blame them when they were given food and they didn't bother with table manners. If I were like them, I wouldn't either. But, my mom made us learn all sorts of manner and how to present ourselves in public. If we ever broke any of those presentation rules of hers, she would hit us with anything in arms reach.

I think what Effie said disturbed Katniss because now she's eating the rest of her meal with her fingers. It bothers Effie, I can tell. This is one of the reasons, why I love Katniss. If she doesn't like what you say or what you do, she lets you know one way or another. I've seen this type of attitude from watching her at school.

By the time, we're done I feel like I might explode or something. I also feel nauseous. I glance at Katniss, she looks like she's going to be sick. I think I am too. Effie then guides us to another compartment to watch the recap of the reapings. They show the reaping District by District. First, District 1 all the way until District 12. I watch the reapings go by and the faces of my competition. Some of the tributes, I'm a little a worried about, but others I don't think will last very long. I could be wrong of course. From District 11, I see a little girl, 12 years old like Prim, get reaped, but no one volunteers for her. I feel extremely bad for this girl even if I don't know her. I feel even worse realizing that I'm suppose to make sure she's dead along with all the other tributes for Katniss to go home. I don't think I can do this. I notice a few things, that I didn't realize happen at our reaping. I didn't know Haymitch fell off the stage or that people saluted Katniss.

"My hair looked awful because of Haymitch. Your mentor has a lot to learn about presentation. A lot about televised behavior." she sounds like my mother. Just the thought of Haymitch learning about presentation is funny to me. I laugh and they stare at me.

"He was drunk. He's drunk every year." I tell them. To my surprise Katniss smirks at Effie and adds that he's drunk everyday. Effie looks upset know.

"Yes. How odd you two find it amusing. You know your mentor is your lifeline to the world in these Games. The one who advises your, lines up your sponsors, and dictates the presentation of any gifts. Haymitch can well be the difference between your life and your death!" As if on cue, Haymitch staggers in and says something I don't catch and then vomits. It's really disgusting to watch; I feel my supper coming up. He then collapses in his own vomit. "So laugh away!" says Effie as she hops away around the mess and disappears behind the automatic door. Shit! She's right. I think it's time to get serious.

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**I hope you like. It felt like a long chapter to type , but it's worth it. Review please and may the odds be **_**ever **_**in your favor.**

**~ secretTHGluver ~**


	4. THG: the deal

**Hello, hope your having a good day today. So, here is chapter 4 of Peeta's story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the hunger games.**

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We stand there for what feels like a few minutes staring at Haymitch. I glance up at Katniss and she glances up at me at the same time. We lock eyes for a few second before she looks back at Haymitch. I drop my gaze after she does. I realize what she's doing a second after she leans down and grabs one of Haymitch's arms. I grab the other. We manage to pull him to his feet.

"I tripped?" he asks. "Smells bad." Of course it smells bad; he just vomited and fell into it. He wipes his nose, smearing his face with vomit.

"Let's get you back to your room," I say. "Clean you up a bit."

Katniss and I each position ourselves on either side of Haymitch and half-lead half-carry him back to his room. Haymitch is too dirty to place on the clean bedding, so pull into the bathroom and Katniss turns on the water. He doesn't resist anything. In fact I don't think notices what we're doing. I glance up at Katniss and see that she has the look of disgust on her face. This might be my only chance to talk to Haymitch alone and I don't really want Katniss to suffer through this. Taking him a bath I mean.

"It's okay," I tell her. "I'll take it from here." She hesitates before she stands up.

"All right, "she says a little relieved. "I can send one of the Capitol people to help you. "

"No. I don't want them," I admit. I glance up and watch her leave the room and notice that she glances back at me for a second before shutting the door. I look back down at Haymitch. Now I have to deal with this mess. Actually having a Capitol attendant clean him up would be a small victory of revenge for sending us to our deaths, but I have to see if I can talk to him first. He has started dozing off inside the bathtub, so I splash his face with the running water. That wakes him up for a while I hope.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" he yells. I guess he got into old school swearing too. He swings at the air around him, before he stares at me angrily. "What are you doing to me? Why am I in the tub? Were you gonna….?" He gives me a weird look.

"I wasn't. I just want to talk to you," I reassure him. He stares me down for a few moments.

"Alright boy, what do you want?"

"I want to make a deal." I tell him firmly. I want to make sure that he knows I mean business; that I'm not bullshitting.

"What deal could you possibly want?" he asks narrowing his eyes.

"I want…to make it clear who should, no who will come out of these games alive."

"Look boy, I can only help you live so far in these games, you'll have to rely on yourself to live-"

"I don't want to win. I want Katniss to win." I cut him off. He looks at me in shock.

"What?! None of you tributes every ask to help the other one," he tells me. I sigh. How thick is his skull? I stare him down until he speaks up. "Why do you want to help the girl?"

"She's….my friend and…. I know that she has….something special to come home to…..while I don't." I drop my gaze and stare at the floor. I think he picks up on my hesitation because he drops the conversation right there. After a while he asks me the question I hope he had the answer to.

"And what do you want me to do to help? Hmm." He asks. I don't know I guess he can make sure that all the sponsors go to her and give her the best guidance through these. I don't know.

"I don't know. I was hoping that you knew. All I can say is that I want you to do everything you can to make sure she wins." I say. He puts his hand on his chin and rubs it for a what feels like three minutes.

"Alright I'll do it. Help me up." he says extending his hand to me.

"No, you are going to stay here and wash up. Goodnight Haymitch." I say turning around and leaving. Before I leave I turn back around and say, "I'll send over a Capitol attendant to help you." Then I shut the door behind me. As I do, I hear him say damn kid along with a few other things. Down the hallway, I find two Capitol attendants and inform them that Haymitch needs help and if he protests ignore it.

I walk into my room and prepare myself for sleep. Once asleep I dream of Katniss at school. In the dream, I'm standing in a group of my friends and instead of listening to what they're saying I'm watching Katniss. Here she looks about fourteen. She's waiting for passing period to be over. My best friend Calum asks me what I'm staring at and I of course tell him nothing. Nomen then asks me to recall the last thing they said. Damn, they got me there. I just stay quiet.

"Alright who is it?" Calum asks. He looks around the groups of kids walking through the hallways. "Is it her…" I shake my head. "Her…" I shake my head again. "How about her…" he says pointing at the mayor's daughter, whose name I think is Madge. She stands near Katniss. I shake my head again. They all go around pointing out all the girls who don't live in the Seam. Thank God. "Alright, we went through every merchant girl that passed by. Either you lied to us or you were looking at a Seam girl." I look around the group and see disapproving looks on their faces.

"I was…," I hesitate. Delly raises her eyebrows questionly. In this time period Delly already knows about Katniss. Luckily she saves me.

"Oh, I think I know what he was staring at. Look." she points at a poster that stands on the wall by Katniss. "He must have been studying the sign because we have a quiz on coal byproducts today in our next class." I look back at the sign and it lists some of the coal byproducts with their purposes printed next to them.

"Yeah. That was exactly what I was looking at." I say. A chorus 'Oh' circles through the group.

"Good. I thought you were staring at the Seam girl over there." Nomen says pointing directly at Katniss. They look at me waiting for me to say something. I open my mouth and before I say something the bell rings. Saved by the bell, literally. We all head to class and they don't bring it up again. This isn't the first time, I got caught staring at Katniss. I've gotten caught dozens of times, but I could always talk myself out of it. That time Delly had to save me.

I wake up to Effie knocking on my door. I get up and change into a simple dull dark blue shirt and blue pants. I walk to the dining car and see nobody, but Effie and the Capitol attendants are there. Effie tells me to sit down and the attendants will serve me. I do as she says and immediately I'm served an enormous plate of food. As, I begin to eat, Haymitch walks in. A little off balance, but not like yesterday.

"Morning, boy." he tells me sliding into his chair across from me.

"You know, my name is Peeta." I inform in.

"Good to know boy." he says. He begins to scuff down his eggs. "So, did I imagine what happened last night or was that real."

"What was real?" I play dumb. I just want to make sure that he remembers what we discussed. Effie then walks out to get Katniss.

"That you want the girl to win." he says watching the door Effie just went through. I guess to make sure the coast is clear or something.

"Um…yeah. That really happened." I clarify.

"Why? What you said yesterday doesn't count as a reason." he yells me. Here it goes. He wants to know the real reason. He should know anyway, especially if I want his help in this. I take a deep breathe and side glance at the door to make sure they're not coming.

"I….I've…I've been in love with her for the past eleven years." I admit to him. I quickly grab a roll from the bowl in front of me and begin picking at it. I don't dare look up. I feel Haymitch staring at me. It's as if he's seeing right through me into my soul.

"I knew it. You two didn't look like you guys were friends. Of course, it could have just been me. I don't know if you knew or not. I was drinking a little bit yesterday." he begins to laugh then stops and looks at me. I have now looked up at him and then I look back down at my roll. "You know what. You and her actually would look nice together." he admits to me. I blush really red, I can feel it. He chuckles at me while I just stare at my roll feeling embarrassed. Just at that second Katniss walks in with Effie in front of her. I don't dare look up, but Haymitch does.

"Sit down! Sit down!" He tells her and even waves her over. She sits down and gets served a plate. I glance up at Katniss, who seems to be confused over the cup of hot chocolate. I don't think she knows what it is.

"They call it hot chocolate. It's good," I reassure her. She looks back down at her cup and takes a sip. Then she continues drinking it until she finishes. Then she eats her plate. I have finished my plate already and Haymitch hasn't touched his plate since he took out a bottle and started pouring it in his red juice. I have been dunking pieces of roll into my hot chocolate for the past half hour. When, Katniss is done eating she takes a side glance at me and what I'm doing. She then does the same. In my head I grin like a little boy who has just received candy.

"So, you're supposed to give us advice," she says after a while of silence.

"Here's some advice. Stay alive," he says and then he starts laughing. I look over to see Katniss's reaction to find her looking at me. I turn back to Haymitch. That bastard is suppose to help her, I mean help us.

"That's very funny," I say. Then I reach out to take the glass in his hands. It shatters on the floor spilling the red liquid over the floor. "Only not to us." He studies me and then just as I expected he punches me in the jaw and I fall to the floor. Then I hear something drive through the table. I see Haymitch sit back in his chair and glance back and forth between me and Katniss.

"Well, what's this?" he asks. "Did I actually get a pair of fighters this year?" I rise from the floor and get a handful of ice from the fruit tureen and raise it to my jaw.

"No. Let the bruise show. The audience will think you've mixed it up with another tribute before you've even made it to the arena." Isn't that against the rules.

"That's against the rules," I say.

"Only if they catch you. That bruise will say you fought, you weren't caught, even better," he tells me. Is he helping me or is he trying to get me in trouble. He turns to Katniss and says, "Can you hit anything with that knife besides a table?" I watch Katniss as she grabs the blade and throws it. It gets lodged between two panels. This girl never fails to amaze me. "Stand over here. Both of you." he said nodding toward the middle of the room. We both do as he says and he cirlces us. He pokes us occasionally and examines us. Finally he tells us that we're not completely hopeless and that with the stylists' help we'll be attractive enough. He has a point to that. Usually, the best looking tributes pull more sponsors. "All right, I'll make a deal with you. You don't interfere with my drinking, and I'll stay sober enough to help you. But you have to do exactly what I say."

"Fine," I say. At least he's gonna help us now.

"So help us," Katniss says. "When we get to the arena, what's the best strategy at the Cornucopia for someone-"

"One thing at a time. In a few minutes, we'll be pulling into the station. You'll be put in the hands of your stylists. You're not going to like what they do to you. But no matter what it is, don't resist," he says interrupting Katniss. I guess everything they're going to do to me here I won't like. But if it's to save Katniss, it's worth it. Katniss tries to object, but Haymitch makes it clear not to resist. He grabs a bottle of spirits from the table and leaves us alone in the compartment. Suddenly it goes dark and at that I realize that we're through a tunnel. We stand in silence. I wish I could think of something to say, but I can't. The train slows down and the compartment begins to light up. We both run over to the window like kids to get a view of the city. It looks so much better in person than on the television. People begin pointing at the train. These people are so different than the people at home. When you see a tribute train you flee in fear that it might take you. Here, the people rush to get front row seats to see the tributes arrive. Since they never are at risk of being tributes they don't fear the train. I side glance at Katniss. She has backing away from the window. If she won't play friendly with possible sponsors than I guess I have to. I wave to them and smile the whole time. I stop when we're blocked from their view. I turn around to see Katniss staring at me with a questionable look on her face.

"Who knows? One of them may be rich." I tell her. I was hoping to lighten the mood, but instead she we lock eyes for a second before she glances down then back at the window and then back at me with an unreadable expression. I wonder what she's thinking about. I know what I'm thinking about. I'm wondering how the hell am I suppose to protect her from such serious competition.

* * *

**Yay! I'm done. I type so slow sometimes. Anyway happy new year. I am so ready for 2013. Well half ready. I'm not ready to see the catching fire movie yet because I don't want to be disappointed with how it comes out. Catching fire was my favorite out of all of them. Tell me which one was your favorite in a review.**

**~ secretTHGluver ~**


	5. THG: the opening ceremonies

**It is officially 2013! Here is chapter 5 of Peeta's Story. Hurray! I'm just so happy today. Hope you like it.**

When we pull into the train station and the train stops completely, the doors open and a few Peacekeepers come in to escort us out. The train station isn't very big to hold a lot of people. So, it's mostly filled with the biggest fans of the Games. Maybe hundred or so people are here cheering hysterically. We're guided into the Training Center with Haymitch and Effie following us closely.

"Katniss, you'll meet your Stylist and prep team in that room and Peeta, your's through that door." Effie tells us pointing in directions of our prep rooms. I walk through my door and am immediately greeted by three very Capitol looking people. They lay me down on a table and start changing my appearance. They cut my hair and wipe my face with something sort of slimy and sticky.

"What is this?" I ask them.

"It prevents hair growth." Oh, so they don't want me to grow a beard in the arena. That won't be a problem even without the cream I won't grow a beard in a few weeks. After a while, they lead me into a room where I guess is the place I'll meet my stylist. After about five minutes my stylist walks in and asks me to rise. She circles my like Haymitch did and pokes me a few times with a small stick with measurements on it.

"My name is Portia." She tells me shaking my hand.

"Peeta." I say. Then she starts going over what she has planned for the opening ceremonies. After she explains it she takes me to a room where we have lunch. During lunch she tells me that this is her first games.

"This year, I hope to change the face of District 12. Cinna, Katniss's stylist, and I have planned to make sure that both of you catch the public's eye."

"How do you plan to do that?" I ask her. I'm a little curious on how they can make us interesting.

"You'll see." she says with a mysterious smile. After lunch she quides me back to room we were in before. "Here, put this on and I'll adjust it if it needs adjusting." I do as she says and change. It fits perfect on me. I am wearing a skintight coal black unitard. Portia puts me in leather boots that lace up to my knees. She circles me making sure that its complete perfection and leaves the room. She comes back with an orange, yellow, and red fabric. She unfolds it and throws it over my shoulders.

"Is this a cape?" I ask. She nods her head.

"Peeta, how do you feel about fire?" she asks. Fire? It's useful when you need something to heat up, but it's dangerous because it can destroy practically everything.

"What do you mean?" I answer her question with a question.

"I want to light your cape and headdress on fire." She must see the look of shock on my face because then she says, "Not real fire, synthetic fire. It won't hurt you." I'd resist letting them burn me alive, but Haymitch said not to resist, so I guess I can't.

"Alright." I lie to her. She grins at me and pulls up a chair for me to sit on. I am no way ok with being lit on fire. The prep team from earlier come back and put makeup on me. I feel weird having makeup on. I don't know how girls can last having this gunk on their faces. Not to mention some of the guys too. She brings me a mirror and shows me my reflection. I don't even have much makeup on. Just highlighted areas here and there. It may be a little bit of makeup, but it still feels uncomfortable. They make me stand and then they all position themselves in front of me. They stand there looking proud of their work and I think they're also waiting for a response.

"Wow. You've all done a nice job." I tell them smiling.

"Alright, now you just need the headdress." says Portia pulling it out from her bag. She places it carefully on my head and stands back admiring it. They applaud and lead me toward the area where the chariots are waiting. I walk in and am surprised to see that Katniss is actually relieved to see me. I can tell by the way she looks over at me when I walk through with my team behind me. When we meet up, everyone but the guy I presume is Cinna, are all excited about what a splash we'll make. Cinna and Portia help me and Katniss onto the chariots. They fix any last minute things like our headdresses and capes. They position us a certain way on the chariot. The walk away for a little bit to discuss something. I hope they aren't worrying about the fire because that's just me more nervous.

"What do you think?" I hear Katniss whisper. "About the fire?" Should I tell her how I really feel about the fire? I think she would understand.

"I'll ripe off your cape if you'll rip off mine," I tell her angrily.

"Deal," she says. So, she must be thinking the same thing as me. The Capitol would send us into the arena in any condition we're in. Shouldn't Haymitch be preventing something like this.

"Where is Haymitch? Isn't he supposed to protect us from this sort of thing?" I ask her.

"With all that alcohol in him, it's probably not advisable to have him around an open flame," she says. We both end up laughing. I wish I knew this girl more personally before we got into this mess. She seems like a fun person to be around. Or she's probably nervous and not acting normal. We stop laughing when we hear the opening music begin. The massive doors open and you can hear the loud cheers of the crowd. We watch as the tributes from District 1 are pulled on their chariot out into the streets. The cheering becomes even louder. District 2 follows shortly behind them. Cinna reappears with a lighted torch.

"Here we go then," he says and sets our capes on fire. I hold my breathe and clench my jaw preparing for the burning sensation that is soon to come, but it doesn't. It works. "It works." Cinna echoes my thought. I watch him as he lifts Katniss's chin and tells her to keep her head high and to smile and that they're going to us. He jumps off, but turns around and shouts something. I can't hear over the music. He shouts again and make hand gestures.

"What's he saying?" Katniss asks me. I turn to her and I don't see Katniss, I see an even more dazzling version of Katniss. She looks so beautiful. I look in her eyes and see an interesting look in her eye that I can't read.

"I think he said for us to hold hands," I tell her. I grab her right hand and automatically feel that warmth I felt when I shook her hand. I look over to Cinna who gives us a thumbs up. I then look straight ahead because we have started moving forward. When the crowd sees us, their cheers are deafening. They all begin chanting "District 12!" I smile and wave at everyone on my side. Then I turn my head over to Katniss's side and see her smiling and waving. I feel her grip on my hand tighten. I look back over to my side and continue smiling and waving. I hear people start shouting Katniss and I glance over to her again. She's blowing kisses at the crowd and the crowds throwing rose at us. I smile at her. She's definitely not acting like herself. Her grip tightens even more to point where I feel pain. When we enter the City Circle I side glance at Katniss and see her staring at our entwined fingers. She started releasing her grip on me. I tighten my grip on hers.

"No, don't let go of me," I plead. I may never have another chance to hold her hand again. "Please. I might fall out of this thing." I lie to her.

"Okay." she says and looks in the other direction with a quizzical look on her face. All the chariots stop in front of the President's mansion. He speaks to us, well more to the citizens of the Capitol because he faces his attention to us a few times. I don't pay attention to him. I watch the screens and notice that the camera faces the District 12 chariot a lot more than it should especially the darker it's getting. Finally when the national anthem plays they do a quick cut around the tributes, but hold on me and Katniss until we disappear into the Training Center. Immediately, we are ambushed by the prep teams yammering on about how incredible our performance was and congratulating the stylists. Portia extinguishes our costumes and goes back to group of excited prep teams, leaving me and Katniss just standing there. I feel angry stares at us and look in that direction to see that some of the tributes are casting us dirty looks. I think they know what I know. We just outshined them. More Katniss than me. I look at her and realize that she trying to release her grip. I do the same. We both massage our hands.

"Thanks for keeping hold of me. I was getting a little shaky there," I lie to her. I was a little nervous, but I held my ground. I just wanted something to say to her.

"It didn't show," she says to me. "I'm sure no one noticed." I finally have thought of something to say, but I'm not sure she knows how to take compliments. My dad complimented her on her hunting skills and she just shrugged it off.

"I'm sure they didn't notice anything but you. You should wear flames more often. They suit you." I tell her. I smile at her. She smiles for a second, but then it fades and she looks to the side lost in thought and then looks back at me as if she decided something. She stands up on tiptoe and kisses my cheek right where my bruise is. Then she walks away. Did that really just happen or did I just imagine it?

**Sorry I didn't update yesterday. I had no access to the internet, but I hope to upload two chapters today. Anyway please review. Tell me what you think.**

**~ secretTHGluver ~ **


	6. THG: the avox

**Hi there, I am here to present you with another chapter of Peeta's Story. Enjoy.**

Portia leads me to an elevator that Effie and Katniss are about to step into. I follow them, but Portia doesn't accompany us. Effie presses a button labeled 12 and we shot up the elevator. Once we step off Effie is ecstatic about how she's been talking us up to everyone she knows.

"I've been very mysterious, though," she says squinting her eyes. "Because, of course, Haymitch hasn't bothered to tell me your strategies. But I've done my best with what I had to work with. How Katniss sacrificed herself for her sister. How you've both successfully struggled to overcome the barbarism of your district."

What? Did she just say that? How can she talk about barbarism from the districts? The Capitol has more barbarism than the rest of the country. They send kids into and arena to fight to the death and she's telling everyone that good bet because of our table manners. I don't say anything because I know that she means to help us and she can't help how she was raised.

"Everyone has their reservations, naturally. You being from the coal district. But I said, and this was very clever of me, I said 'Well, if you put enough pressure on coal it turns to pearls!" Effie says giving us an all teeth smile like she's the cleverest person in the world. We both respond enthusiastically to her cleverness. She has her information wrong. Coal doesn't turn to pearls. "Unfortunately, I can't seal the sponsor deals for you. Only Haymitch can do that," she says with a frown. "But don't worry, I'll get him to the table at gunpoint if necessary." I smirk at her because now I have to admire about her. Effie can be a bad ass all on her own. She leads us to our separate rooms. I walk into my room and in awe, again. The first thing I notice is all electronic stuff in the room. I walk into the bathroom and there is a large panel in the shower with hundreds of small buttons. They are all separated into categories. I decide that thing I should test is the shower. I undress and step in. I first scan the panel trying to figure out how turn the water on. The buttons are labeled with small text underneath them telling what it is. After what felt like three minutes, I find the right button. The shower turns on, but the steaming hot. I press the cold button and then I feel cold and hot water pouring over me. I start randomly pressing buttons and try to memorize their different actions. When I get frustrated with the panel after a half hour pressing. I ask to myself.

"How do I work this shit?" I step out on the mat and heaters start to blow-dry my body. Next to the shower there is some sort of box. I place my hand on it and electricity runs up my arm through to my scalp, drying my hair and letting it rest in straight waves on my head. I walk over to my bed and lay down. It feels like I'm laying in a bed of clouds. I hear knocking disturbing my peace and quiet. I open the door to find Cinna.

"Can I speak to you?" he asks. I nod my head and close the door behind me. I follow him to a stairway that leads to the roof. Once there, he turns around to face me. "Haymitch informed me of what you are planning to do. He said that you are planning to sacrifice yourself in the arena and take out as many tributes as you can so that Katniss can win."

"That is what I plan to do." I tell him. He turns away from me and looks over the city.

"Peeta, did you know that tributes are allowed up here?" I walk over and look over the edge. I feel a sudden urge to jump, but not for suicide.

"Wouldn't they be worried if a tribute tried to jump?" I ask.

"Stick your hand out." he says. I do and feel a sharp pain in my hand as if I'm getting electrocuted. I bring my hand in close to my chest. "They're not dumb asses." he says laughing quietly to himself. I start to wonder if this fashion genius is an undercover madman. "We have all agreed to try our best to help her." This comforts me, knowing that the whole team is going to try their best to make her win.

"Thank you." He looks back at the way we came in.

"Let's go back." he says. We walk back and see Portia waiting in the hallway.

"There you two are." she says relieved. She walks us over to where the dining room is, but leads us to balcony just outside the dining room. "So, how are you liking this place so far?" she asks me.

"The shower's a little confusing." I admit. They both laugh.

"There's a manual for that, if you want it." offers Cinna.

"No, thank you. I want to figure it out." I say declining his offer. He shrugs and then we hear footsteps behind us and we turn around to see Katniss and Effie. We all sit down at the table and Haymitch shows up shortly later. We get served a large plate of food and they offer all of us wine. I accept and so does Katniss, who sits to the left in front of me. For desert, we're served a cake that a red headed girl who looks about my age lights it.

"What makes it burn? Is it alcohol?" Katniss asks the girl. "That's the last thing I wa- oh! I know you!" She says looking up at the girl. The girl immediately shakes her head.

"Don't be ridiculous, Katniss. How could you possibly know an Avox?" Effie snaps at her. "The very thought." What's an Avox?

"What's an Avox?" Katniss echoes my thoughts.

"Someone who committed a crime. They cut her tongue so she can't speak," says Haymitch. "She's probably a traitor of some sort. Not likely you'd know her."

"And even if you did, you're not to speak to one of them unless it's to give an order," says Effie. "Of course, you don't really know her." I can tell by the look on Katniss's face and the way she glances back at the girl and just stares at her plate that she does know this girl.

"No, I guess not, I just -" she stammers.

"Delly Cartwright. That's who it is. I kept thinking she looked familiar as well. Then I realized she's a dead ringer for Delly." She gives me a puzzled look and then raises her eyebrows figuring out what I'm doing.

"Of course, that's who I was thinking of. It must be the hair," she says.

"Something about the eyes, too." I add. I feel the tension relax.

"Oh, well. If that's all it is," Cinna says. "And yes, the cake has spirits, but all the alcohol has burned off. I ordered it specially in honor of your fiery debut." We eat the cake and then we're guided into the sitting room. We all sit on the couch and watch the opening ceremonies. When we appear on the screen, everyone, but me and Katniss, say "Ahh!"

"Whose idea was the hand holding?" asks Haymitch.

"Cinna's," answers Portia.

"Just the perfect touch of rebellion. Very nice." says Haymitch. I look over at Haymitch. He's smirking to himself. I avert my gaze to Katniss. She seems lost in deep thought. After it's the showing is over we all sit there in silence for a moment.

"Tomorrow morning is the first training session. Meet me for breakfast and I'll tell you exactly how I want you to play it," says Haymitch turning his attention to me and Katniss. "Now go get some sleep while the grown-ups talk." Katniss and I stand up and walk down the hallways to our rooms. Although my room is a couple doors before Katniss's, I continue walking until we're in front of her door. I lean against the door frame turning her attention to me.

"So, Delly Cartwright. Imagine finding her lookalike here." I hope she knows what I mean. She doesn't respond, just stares down the hallway. I think she wants to talk where there's more privacy.

"Have you been on the roof yet?" I ask. She shakes her head. "Cinna showed me. You can practically see the whole city. The wind's a bit loud, though."

"Can we just go up?" she asks.

"Sure, come on." I tell her. She follows me up the stairs up to the roof. I hear her take a deep breathe. We walk over to the edge and she looks down.

"I asked Cinna why they let us up here. Weren't they worried that some of the tributes might decide to jump right over the side?" I say.

"What'd he say?" she says looking up at me.

"You can't," I tell her. I hold out my hand like before and then when I feel the zap I pull it back. "Some kind of electric field throws you back on the roof."

"Always worried about our safety," she says. She looks around the area. "Do you think they're watching us now?" I look around too.

"Maybe," I admit. "Come see the garden." We walk over to the other side of the dome and stop in middle of the garden. I turn to her. She looks down at a blossom and examines it.

"We were hunting in the woods one day. Hidden, waiting for game," she whispers to me.

"You and your father?" I whisper back.

"No, my friend Gale. Suddenly all the birds stopped singing at once. Except one. As if it were giving a warning call. And then we saw her. Their clothes were tattered. They were running as if their lives depended on it," she says. Then, she stays quiet. "The hovercraft appeared out of nowhere. I mean, one moment the sky was empty and then next it was there. It didn't make a sound, but they saw it. A net dropped down on the girl and carried her up, fast, so fast like the elevator. They shot some sort of spear through the boy. It was attached to a cable and they hauled him up as well. But I'm certain he was dead. We heard the girl scream once. The boy's name, I think. Then it was gone, the hovercraft. Vanished into thin air. And the birds began to sing again, as if nothing had happened."

"Did they see you?" I ask.

"I don't know. We were under a shelf of rock," she replies. She starts shivering.

"You're shivering," I tell her. She's looking down. I don't want her to get sick. So, I take off my jacket and wrap it around her. At first, I notice she takes a step back, but she accepts it anyway.

"They were from here?" I ask while buttoning the top button. She nods. "Where do you suppose they were going?"

"I don't know that. Or why they would leave here." I do. This place is so controlling. Even the districts.

"I'd leave here." I say loud enough to hear over the wind and chimes. I laugh. "I'd go home now if they let me. But you have to admit, the food's prime." I lied. Well it's not a really a lie. If I could I would…go back home with Katniss. At least, I'd know she'd be safe. "It's getting chilly. We better go in." We walk into the dome, where it's warm. we then start walking down the stairs. "Your friend Gale. He's the one who took your sister away at the reaping?"

"Yes. Do you know him?" No, and I really wouldn't want to. He gets to see you practically everyday. I think in my head. I guess I'm a bit jealous of him.

"Not really. I hear the girls talk about him a lot. I thought he was your cousin or something. You favor each other," I say. Even though it pains me to say that they favor each other, I want to know if she knows how other people see them.

"No, we're not related," she says. She didn't deny or agree to them favoring each other. I nod.

"Did he come to say good-bye to you?"

"Yes," she says pausing we've locked eyes now. "So, did your father. He brought me cookies." He did? Why would he bring her cookies and not me, his own son. I'm not being arrogant or anything. It just doesn't make sense. Then I realize he likes Katniss and Prim. I turn my gaze away from her and look ahead.

"Really? Well, he likes you and your sister. I think he wishes he had a daughter instead of a houseful of boys." I tell her. She looks ahead to where her door is. She takes off my jacket and hands it back to me.

"See you in the morning then."

"See you." I say and walk down the hall to my room. When I get there, I change clothes and crawl under the sheets and fall asleep just as my head hits the pillow.

**Yay! I actually accomplished two chapters in one day. Anyway, review please. Tell me how you feel about how I'm writing Peeta's POV. I'm open minded about these things. Have a good rest of the day. **

**~ secretTHGluver ~**


	7. THG: the skills

**Hi! Thank you for continuing to read this story. Here's anther chapter.**

I had such a great sleep, that I actually oversleep and am the last one to arrive at breakfast other than Haymitch of course. When I walk in, I immediately notice that Katniss and I are wearing the same outfit. Haymitch and I serve ourselves and sit down. After a while, Haymitch speaks up.

"So, let's get down to business. Training. First off, if you like, I'll coach you separately. Decide now." I'd like to be coach separately so that I could discuss my plan with Haymitch, but I would like to spend more time with her.

"Why would you coach us separately?" Katniss asks. I have a feeling that she wants us to be coached together.

"Say if you had a secret skill you might not want the other to know about," says Haymitch. Katniss looks over at me.

"I don't have any secret skills. And I already know what yours is, right? I mean, I've eaten enough of your squirrels." I tell her. She continues staring at me, but like she's thinking. She turns to Haymitch.

"You can coach us together," she tells him. I nod in agreement.

"All right, so give me some idea of what you can do." I can only bake.

"I can't do anything. Unless you count baking bread." I tell him hopeful.

"Sorry, I don't. Katniss. I already know you're handy with a knife," says Haymitch.

"Not really. But I can hunt. With a bow and arrow." she says. Haymitch studies her for a second.

"And you're good?" he asks. She looks down at the table thinking it over.

"I'm all right," she says. All right? She's better than all right. She has to be the best archer in the world, in my opinion.

"She's excellent. My father buys her squirrels. He always comments on how the arrows never pierce the body. She hits every one in the eye. It's the same with the rabbits she sells the butcher. She can even bring down deer." She first looks surprised, and then she has a suspicious look on her.

"What are you doing?" she asks.

"What are you doing? If he's going to help you, he has to know what you're capable of. Don't underrate yourself." I can tell from the look on her face that she's pissed.

"What about you? I've seen you in the market. You can lift hundred-pound bags of flour," she snaps at me. "Tell him that. That's not nothing." Actually seeing her mad at me is amusing.

"Yes, and I'm sure the arena will be full of bags of flour for me to chuck at people. It's not like being able to use a weapon. You know it isn't," I say with sarcasm. She turns to Haymitch.

"He can wrestle. He cam in second in our school competition last year, only after his brother." she says. How much has she noticed me?

"What use is that? How many times have you seen someone wrestle someone to death?" I say disgusted. I would never do that.

"There's always hand-to-hand combat. All you need is to come up with a knife, and you'll at least stand a chance. If I get jumped, I'm dead!" she says really pissed off now. I'm now getting pissed too.

"But you won't! You'll be living up in some tree eating raw squirrels and picking off people with arrows. You know what my mother said to me when she came to say good-bye, as if to cheer me up, she says maybe District Twelve will finally have a winner. Then I realized, she didn't mean me, she meant you!" I blurt out.

"Oh, she meant you." She says with a wave of dismissal.

"She said, 'She's a survivor, that one.' She is." I tell her even though it pains me to admit that my mother doesn't care about me. She looks in my eyes and I have a feeling that she knows I'm not lying to her. It looks like she's deep in thought.

"But only because someone helped me." she says. I look down to the roll in her hands. I know what she means. She's talking about that day five years ago. When she was starving to death leaning against the old apple tree in my backyard. I had to do something to help, so I tossed her two loaves of bread. I watched her walk away clinging to them like their her life. I shrug it off.

"People will help you in the arena. They'll be tripping over each other to sponsor you."

"No more than you," she says. Why does she have to be so difficult? I roll my eyes and look over at Haymitch.

"She has no idea. The effect she can have." I say. I avoid looking at Katniss and just stare at the table as I run my fingers up and down the table. Haymitch just looks just back and forth between us, before he speaks.

"Well, then. Well, well, well. Katniss, there's no guarantee they'll be bows and arrows in the arena, but during your private session with the Gamemakers, show them what you can do. Until then, stay clear of archery. Are you any good at trapping?"

"I know a few basics snares," she mutters.

"That may be significant in terms of food. And Peeta, she's right, never underestimate strength in the arena. Very often, physical power tilts the advantage to a player. In the Training Center, they will have weights, but don't reveal how much you can lift in front of the other tributes. The plan's the same for both of you. You go to group training. Spend the time trying to learn something you don't know. Throw a spear. Swing what you're best at until your private sessions. Are we clear?" he says. We both nod. "One last thing. In public, I want you by each other's side every minute," he says. We both start objecting, but he slams his hand on the table. "Every minute! It's not open for discussion! You agreed to do as I said! You will be together, you will appear amiable to each other. Now get out. Meet Effie at the elevator at ten for training."

With that, Katniss stands up and hurries to her and slams the door loudly. I stay seated. Haymitch looks over at me.

"You alright." he says. I nod my head then I shake it then I nod it again. "You sure?"

"I don't know." I admit to him.

"Why do you love her?" he asks to me. I begin to explain to him the day I first fell in love with her.

"It was the first day of school and we were in the same music class. The teacher asked us who knew the valley song and her hand shot straight up. The teacher stood her up on a stool and had her sing it for us. When she sang, every bird outside silenced. Her voice was absolutely beautiful. From that point I was desperately in love with her." I admit that last part a bit shyly.

"Ah. I see." he says. "Go to room and wait for Effie, boy." I do as he says and walk to my room and close my door behind me. I sit on my bed and look out the window waiting for Effie to call me for training.

**Sorry it took longer to update today, but again I had no internet access or wi fi. **

**~ secretTHGluver ~**


	8. THG: the training

**Oh wow…. thank you so much for continuing to read this story. I can't explain how much this means to me. I would like to present chapter 8 of Peeta's Story. **

At ten, I head over to the elevators like Haymitch said to do. Effie is waiting there just like he said she would.

"Morning, Peeta." she says as she with a smile on her face. "We just have to wait for Katniss now." We wait about five minutes before she shows up. We step into the elevator and are below ground level in a minute. We step out into a small room with doors at the end of it. The Avoxes open the doors for us revealing an enormous gymnasium filled with training gear. Effie stays in the elevator and before I walk in to the gymnasium I glance behind me and see the elevator shot back up. Although we are on time, we're the last ones to arrive. We join the circle surrounding the head trainer. She introduces herself as Atala and begins to explain the training schedule. She begins to read the list of the skill stations and immediately I look up at her when she explains the camouflage station. Camouflage is like painting except on your body. When she releases us I automatically turn my attention to the camouflage station, but then I remember I'm suppose to follow along with Katniss. I nudge her and jumps a little.

"Where would you like to start?" I ask her. She looks around to all the station and lands on the knot tying station.

"Suppose we tie some knots," she says. Learning to tie snares can come in handy.

"Right you are." We walk over to the empty station and the trainer's face lights up. He first shows us a trap that can leave a tribute dangling by their leg from a tree. We work on this for about an hour until we both master it. The trainer makes it seem easy, but it's a bit difficult for me. Katniss on the other hand masters it in about 40 minutes. Then we move to the next station which is camouflage. I instantly smile when we walk over to the station. He starts showing us the different colors and how to mix them to replicate different environments. He asks me to try to camouflage my arm to replicate the flooring of a forest. I mix the colors and swirl it around my skin. He compliments my skill making me feel like I can do something that can work in the arena. I glance over at Katniss who isn't even paying attention to the station instead she's watching something behind us.

"I do the cakes." I tell her.

"The cakes?" she asks half pulling her attention back to camouflage. "What cakes?"

"At home. The iced ones, for the bakery," I say. She looks down at my arm that I'm still adding final touches to. She looks annoyed with me.

"It's lovely. If only you could frost someone to death," she says.

"Don't be so superior. You can never tell what you'll find in the arena. Say it's actually a gigantic cake-"

"Say we move on," she says interrupting me and pulling me to the next station. That's what we do for the next three days. We go from station to station. I learn a lot of new things. I learn to start fires, throw a knife, and make a shelter. I fail the edible plants test, but Katniss passes it without missing a single thing. When we get to hand-to-hand combat, I obviously do really well. It's like wrestling, but once in the arena there are no rules. We avoid the archery and weightlifting stations saving those for our private sessions. I can tell that Katniss wants to try out the archery station, but we're instructed not to. We hardly speak during training, but at lunch we try to keep up a friendly conversation. It's hard to find something to talk about. We don't talk of home and we don't dare talk about the Games. What's left to talk about? Nothing. On our last day, I empty out our bread basket. I explain to her the different breads. The Capitol included all the district bread along with their very own fancy bread. I show her how the district the District 4 bread is fish shaped with tinted green with seaweed and the District 11 bread is crescent moon shaped with seeds in it.

"And there you have it," I say scooping the breads back in the basket.

"You certainly know a lot," she says.

"Only about bread," I admit. "Okay, now laugh as if I've said something funny." We both laugh, but the other tributes around the room stare at us. We ignore it and continue with our fake friendly conversation. "All right, I'll keep smiling pleasantly and you talk," I tell her. I know Haymitch wants us to appear to be friends, but I can't do this anymore and I don't think Katniss can either. Besides I think she's still mad from having to team up with me. I look up like she's in thought.

"Did I ever tell you about the time I was chased by a bear?" she asks.

"No, but it sounds fascinating," I say. She begins to tell me the story of how she tried to challenge a black bear over the rights to a beehive. I laugh when she tells me that she tried to trick him by trying making him look in the other direction while she tried to grab the beehive. I ask her how mad the bear got and she tells me that he roared really loud and she dropped the beehive and ran.

While throwing spears I feel like someone's watching me. I glance around me and see the little girl from District 11. I lean over to her and whisper, "I think we have a shadow." She throws the spear in her hand and glances behind her. "I think her name's Rue," I tell her.

"What can we do about it," she says a bit harshly. I just wanted let her know we're being watched, not upset her.

"Nothing to do. Just making conversation."

After training, we head back to our floor and eat dinner with Haymitch and Effie. Katniss and I don't say much, Haymitch and Effie mostly do all the talking at dinner. They tell us almost every detail about training. After dinner, I follow Katniss half way to her door before I try to talk to her.

"Someone ought to get Haymitch a drink." I say. She smiles and snorts a laugh. I finally got her to smile and I got her to somewhat laugh. I smile too knowing that I finally achieved it. Then she stops and looks down at the floor and starts shaking her head. She looks up at me.

"Don't. Don't let's pretend when there's no one around." she says still shaking her head. Her saying that really hurt. I feel an urge to tell her that I'm not pretending that I do want to be friends for real and if we weren't going to a place where I'm going to die, I would tell her that I think of her as more than a friend. I can't do that. I mean I could, but can you imagine it. I walk up to her and tell her that I want to be more than pretend friends and that I don't want her kill in the arena. She would laugh at me or think I'm messing with her or she might even slap me.

"All right, Katniss," I tell her. She walks over to her room and I walk to mine.

Once in bed, I stat to think about tomorrow. Tomorrow is our private session with the Gamemakers. Haymitch said for me to throw weights around, but I feel like showing them spear throwing or camouflage. Then, I think about what Seth told me.

"You can be a bad ass if you try."

He's right I can be. If I try really hard and stop being the nice guy I can be a bad ass and that might be just enough to keep some of the tributes away from Katniss. So, on the third day they start calling out the tributes one by one to our private sessions. When we are left last, I wish I could say something to her. I can tell she's nervous. She's shaking her leg since the last three tributes before us. They call my name. Okay, calm down, you can do this. I tell myself over and over again in my head. I rise and Katniss interrupts my thoughts.

"Remember what Haymitch said about being sure to throw the weights." she says. I smile to myself. So, she does care about me. I turn to face her.

"Thanks. I will. You … shoot straight." I tell her. She nods and a slight smile appears on her face. I turn back around and walk through the doors. I automatically walk towards the weightlifting station. I glance up at the Gamemakers who appear to be drunk. Obviously, that's why District 12's tributes always get low scores. The Gamemakers never pay attention to them. High scores show the sponsors who has talent. District 12 gets low scores, so the sponsors don't ever bother to pay attention to them. I plan to change that. I grab a weight and drop it. It lands near my feet, but it makes a loud thud. I glance up and notice that a few of the Gamemakers now have their attention on me. I pick a heavier weight and throw it across the gym. I look up at them again. Those few who were watching me start nodding their head and look pleased. I pick up an even heavier weight in one hand and toss it above my head and catch it with my other hand. Then I toss it to left side of the room. I pick up the hundred pound weight, it's the biggest out of all of them. I lift it above my head with both hands. A few more Gamemakers have my attention now. Then I release my left hand grip leaving my right hand the only thing supporting the weight. I hear the Gamemakers that were watching me gasp. I toss it up in the air and catch it with my right still above my head. Then I lower it. I get a better grip on it and toss it halfway across the room hitting the cart carrying the spears. The spears scatter around the floor.

"You may go now, Mr. Mellark." I hear one of them say through the speaker. I walk out and get in the elevator. I shot up to my floor and go to my room to wash up for dinner. An hour later I hear a door slam and crying. I open my door and look out. That was Katniss I could tell. Shit! Something must of happen. And knowing how she likes to keep things to herself, if I ask she wouldn't tell me. But, she can't hide it forever, Haymitch is most likely to ask what happened and then she would have to tell us. I just hope she didn't do anything that would make the Gamemakers upset with her.

**I ****© the Hunger Games. Anyway, please review. Tell me what you think so far.**

**~ secretTHGluver ~**


	9. THG: the scores

**Hey fellow THG fans. I apologize for not updating all week. My teachers are piling up last minute assignments before finals. I was too busy working on that stuff to write another chapter, but I finally got a day's break to work on it. Here it is. I think I'm only being able to update once a week. On the weekends most likely.**

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I hear knocking a little after I hear a door being slammed shut. I open my door and peak through the gap. It's Effie and Haymitch knocking on Katniss's door. Now I know something is wrong. They knock for about five minutes they back away from the door and start toward the dining room. I open my door wider when they're out of view. I walk over to her door and knock on it. 'Go away' I hear. At least that's what it sounds like only muffled from the thick door. I walk back to my room with my head down.

About an hour later, Effie knocks on my door for dinner. She then walks over to Katniss's door in her high heels and knocks repeatedly. No answer. I walk over to the dinner table and sit down. It's just Haymitch, Effie, Cinna, Portia, and me sitting the table. I guess Katniss isn't going to show up. I really want to know what happened to her.

In the middle of our first course, she walks through the doorway with her eyes slightly red and her face a bit splotchy. She sits down in the empty chair across from me. Even though everyone averted their eyes back to their plates, I continue watching her while I eat. She keeps her head down and her eyes on her plate.

I keep my eyes on her, while I occasionally glance down at my plate. Finally before we are about to be served the main course, she lifts her head slightly staring at me. Now that I have her attention, I want to ask her what happened, but I don't want the others to hear because I'm sure she doesn't really want to talk about it. She shakes her head and looks back down at her plate.

I guess Haymitch notices because he then says, "Okay enough small talk, just how bad were you today?" Katniss looks up at me with what can only be a death stare. I think I just made it worse for her.

"I don't know that it mattered. By the time I showed up, no one even bothered to look at me. They were singing some kind of drinking song, I think. So, I threw around some heavy objects until they told me I could go," I say with a slight frown. Katniss relaxes a little bit after I say this.

"And you, sweetheart?" says Haymitch. She gives Haymitch the same death stare she gave me. She straightens her back and looks down at her plate while she says, "I shot an arrow at the Gamemakers."

I drop my fork on the plate and stare at her in disbelief. I know she's a bit short tempered, but shooting at the Gamemakers. That's a whole different level of anger that would only lead to trouble especially where we're going.

"You what?" Effie says in a really high voice, which is saying something compared to her Capitol accent.

"I shot an arrow at the. Not exactly at them. In their direction. It's like Peeta said, I was shooting and they were ignoring me and I just … I just lost my head, so I shot and an apple out of their stupid roast pig's mouth!" she says raising her voice.

"And what did they say?" Cinna says.

"Nothing. Or I don't know. I walked out after that," she says.

"Without being dismissed?" gasps Effie.

"I dismissed myself," she says a little too confidently. Then I guess realizing the depth of this situation, she hunches her shoulder forward. Haymitch grabs a buttering knife and a roll.

"Well, that's that," he says buttering the roll.

"Do you think they'll arrest me?" she asks.

"Doubt it. Be a pain to replace you at this stage," Haymitch says indifferently.

"What about my family?" she asks. "Will they punish them?"

"Don't think so. Wouldn't make much sense. See they'd have to reveal what happened in the Training Center for it to have any worthwhile effect on the population. People would need to know what you did. But they can't since it's secret, so it'd be a waste of effort. More likely they'll make your life hell in the arena." says Haymitch taking a bite out of his roll.

"Well, they've already promised to do that to us any way," I break in.

"Very true," he responds. Katniss watches Haymitch eat his pork chop. Then he starts to chuckle. "What were their faces like?" She starts to smile slightly.

"Shocked. Terrified. Uh, ridiculous, some of them. One man tripped backward into a bowl of punch." she says, her smile bigger now. We all start laughing except for Effie, but one look at her and you can tell she's trying to suppress a smile.

"Well, it serves them right. It's their job to pay attention to you. And just because you come from District Twelve is no excuse to ignore you." she says. Then looks around her. "I'm sorry, but that's what I think."

"I'll get a very bad score," Katniss says upset again. Portia assures her that some tributes use a low score as a strategy.

"I hope that's how people interpret the four I'll probably get. If that. Really, is anything less impressive than watching a person pick up a heavy ball and throw it a couple of yards. One almost landed on my foot." I speak up. Katniss beams at me. I guess we actually cheered her up. We finish our meals and walk over to the sitting room. First there are a few commentaries and then they show the tributes' scores. Boy tribute first and girls second.

District 1: 9/9 District 2: 10/10 District 3: 5/4 District 4: 9/8 District 5: 6/5 District 6: 6/4 District 7: 7/4 District 8: 6/3 District 9: 7/5 District 10: 4/3 District 11: 10/7. Finally District 12.

I feel myself becoming nervous. This is it. My training score. My picture shows up and then an 8 flashes below it. What? How come I did good? I was expecting some low number not 8. Then my picture is replaced with Katniss's. An 11 flashes below hers. An ELEVEN! I fight the urge to hug her and congratulate her for doing so well. Why would the Gamemakers give her a high score? I don't mean it in arrogance or anything. It's just … it's just too good to be true.

"There must be a mistake. How … how could that happen?" Katniss asks Haymitch.

"Guess they liked your temper. They've got a show to put on. They need some players with some heat." he says while glancing over at me. Luckily Katniss doesn't catch this.

"Katniss, the girl who was on fire." Cinna says raising his glass of wine and giving Katniss a one armed hug. "Oh, wait until you see your interview dress."

"More flames?" she asks with a slight frown on her face.

"Of a sort," he says mischievously. I wonder what he has in store for her. Whatever it is, I know she will look beautiful as always. She walks over to me.

"Congratulations." I say while the adults receive more glasses of wine.

"Thanks. You too." she says. The look in her eye says it all. She doesn't trust me. Well, of course she won't trust me. She thinks I'm going to try to kill her in the arena or hope she gets killed. But, I'm not. I'm trying to save her, the exact opposite. She walks toward her room. I want to come clean, but I know I can't. Not yet anyway. I have a plan.

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**There's the end of this chapter. I'm sorry again for not updating. Anyway, please review. I love to see what people have to say about my stories. **

**~ secretTHGluver ~ **


	10. THG: the plan

**Hello there, I'm so happy my favorite part of the book is coming up and I can't wait to write it out. Anyway, here is another chapter. **

Katniss leaves to bed early that night, so does Effie and Portia. Cinna leaves to work on his designs. Haymitch leans forward to grab his drink, but I get to it first.

"I need to speak to you, before you get drunk."

"What do you want?" he says leaning back in his chair.

"I can't keep this up anymore. It's becoming harder for me not to tell her." I say. He stays silent. "She doesn't trust me and it hurts knowing it."

"You're better off if she doesn't trust you." says Haymitch.

"How so?" I ask.

"She views you as a threat along with the other tributes. That's helpful in a way. If she trusts you then…" he stops there. I understand what he means.

"What do I do?"

"How about I coach you separately?" he asks taking the bottle from my hand. There is an up and down side with this offer. I do need to speak with Haymitch more on how to be in the arena, but then Katniss would think that I was jealous that she got a higher training score or something like that.

"Deal." I say. I go back to my room and get under the covers without even changing. I fall asleep instantly.

I dream of her. Running through the woods with her braid flapping in the wind. She has her bow in her hand and her sheath over her shoulder. She suddenly stops and loads her bow in one swift motion of her hand. She aims it towards something in the trees. I don't see anything, but she does.

Suddenly, out of a bush behind her, a creature I have never seen before, jumps out and bites at her neck bringing her down with it. She lies on the ground screaming and trying to push the thing off of her. It's some sort of almost hairless large squirrel dog that has razor sharp teeth. It's biting all over her upper body and scratching the rest of her. It finally gets off and runs off on its hind legs. Now, I know what the thing was. It's a Capitol created mutt.

I can't move my body. My eyes and mouth are the only things that move. I scream for her to get up … to be okay. Tears roll down my face. She rolls over facing me. We lock eyes. She draws her last breath and her eyelids slowly close forever.

I awaken in my bed drenched in sweat. I try to sit up, but I can't. I just lay there, stunned. After a few minutes, I'm able to sit up. I look over to the clock. 4:26 a.m. I take my shirt off and walk over to the sink. I turn the faucet on and splash my face with the running water.

_Katniss is alive. It was just a nightmare. _I repeat this to myself over and over again until I've convinced myself. I lay back down on my bed. There's no point in trying to go back to sleep. I remain awake until I hear someone knocking on my door. I rise and open it to see Effie.

"Good morning Peeta. Meet us for breakfast in 10 minutes." she says. I nod and close the door when she leaves. I take a quick shower and get dressed in about 5 minutes. I walk down to the table to see Haymitch and Effie are already seated. They stop talking when I walk in. I sit down at the far end beside Effie.

"You ready for this, boy?" Haymitch asks me quietly. I hesitantly nod.

"This normally happens by now, Peeta. You don't have to be nervous." Effie reassures me. Katniss walks in and we turn our heads to her. She takes a seat by Haymitch. We eat our meals in silence. Katniss is the last one to finish eating.

"So, what's going on? You're coaching us on interviews today, right?" she asks Haymitch.

"Well, there's been a change of plans. About our current approach," he answers twirling the bottle in his hands.

"What's that?"

"Peeta has asked to be coached separately."

The first thing that registers on her face is hurt, but it's quickly replaced with confidence.

"Good. So what's the schedule?" she says. I try to keep a straight, but I would have excepted her to be a little ballistic.

"You'll each have four hours with Effie for presentation and four with me for content. You start with Effie, Katniss." says Haymitch. Katniss follows Effie to another room. Haymitch walks over to the sitting room and I follow him. He sits down and puts his feet on the table. I sit down on the other chair beside the sofa he's sitting on.

He stares at me with a deep-in-thought stare.

"Do you know who the Careers are?" he finally asks.

"Yeah. Districts 1, 2, and 4." I respond.

"Do you know who they are targeting right now?" he asks. My eyes dart down to the floor. "Who is the one that outshined them at the opening ceremonies? Who was the one who beat their training score and got the highest out of all the tributes? Who is the one that has all the attention right now?"

"Katniss…" I say quietly.

"Exactly." says Haymitch.

"So, what now?"

"You join their alliance."

"What?"

"Yes. By joining them, you are guaranteed a longer life in the arena. You know until they decide to kill you." I take time to think this over. Maybe he's right.

"Alright I'll do it, but why would they even let me in their alliance?"

"They would let you in if they knew that you would lead them to her. You would help them find her and kill her. Then they can kill you afterward. " he says.

"I would never." I quickly respond.

"By teaming up with them, you would ensure that they wouldn't kill her. As long as you're with them." he says. I guess he's right … in a way.

"How would I get in?" I ask. He takes a while to respond, as if thinking it through.

"Reveal yourself."

"Reveal myself?" I repeat.

"Yes. In your interview tell the country how you feel."

"About Katniss?" I ask with horror written all over my face. His nods his head slowly. "No. I won't. I can't even tell _her_ if I tried. Do you think I can tell the _whole _country?"

"You would if you want to her to live. We both know she won't survive this interview on her own." I nod my head.

"Tell me what to do." I say. We start rehearsing different ways to confess. Haymitch is the interviewer. He asks me many questions and I try my best to spin them around. By the end of my multiple interviews, I have Haymitch laughing his head off. Although, the jokes I'm saying aren't _that _funny. I trade off with Katniss after we eat lunch. I wonder what Effie has to teach me.

"Peeta when you sit, you don't sit like you're uncomfortable." Effie says scolding me. I've been in here for an hour and a half. So far, we've only covered walking and sitting. I would have mastered these things if she didn't make everything uncomfortable. The shoes I had to walk in had rock hard soles and the chair was also like sitting on glass.

"I'm sorry Effie. I'm trying. I really am." I tell her.

"Well, I can tell you that you are doing much better than Katniss." she tries to reassure me. After I master it she makes me practice smiling. I master this to excellence within a half hour. She releases me early. I walk to my room and order food. After I'm done I lay down on my bed. The Avox girl walks in my room and picks up the plates and places it on the tray. She walks out and closes the door behind her.

I hear loud noises coming from the hallway, but I don't move. I lay there staring at the ceiling. My eyelid gets heavy and I doze off. I dream of the Careers capturing Katniss. They tie her hands behind her back and push her on her knees in front of me.

"Kill her." says the District 2 boy. He hands me a sharp sword. "Through the heart." I grip the sword in my hands and just stare at it. I look Katniss in the eye. She wants me to do it. I can't … I won't. She looks deeper into my eyes. It's as if I can hear her saying 'do it asshole' but I won't.

"If you won't then I will." says the same boy. He takes the sword away from me and cuts her throat. She collapses to the ground. I take out the knife from my belt and charge at him. He drives the sword through my heart. Everything goes dark.

I open my eyes and look around the room. Once I realize where I am, I sit up. I don't know how long I sit there, but I don't move until Portia opens the door and walks in.

"Hey, I see you're up. Come in guys." she says. The prep team walks in and sets up some sort of mini station. While they do that, I take a quick shower. I press the wrong button and I am engulfed in a floral scent liquid. When I'm done, I dry off and get dressed in comfortable clothing. They sit me down on a chair and start working on my hair. They brush it out and blow dry it. They coat it with some sort of gel and then they style it with a comb. After that they put light make up touches here and there.

"Peeta, here is tonight's outfit. Try it on." says Portia handing me a suit on a hanger. I change and they have me sit in it and stretch my arms about to make sure everything's comfortable. They adjust minor details and we walk out to the elevator where Haymitch and Effie are waiting. Shortly after I arrive, Katniss arrives. She is more than just beautiful … she is absolutely stunning. On the elevator, I keep side glancing at her. Haymitch sees me doing this and tries not to laugh. I stop and stare at my shiny shoes until the elevator doors open.

We step out and see the other tributes lining up. We position our selves behind District 11 and are startled when Haymitch comes up behind us.

"Remember, you're still a happy pair. So act like it." he growls. Katniss gives him an annoyed look and averts her eyes back to the stage. Soon enough we walk out on the stage and sit down in the chairs they set out for us.

Caesar Flickerman bounces on stage and gives a brief introduction. I try my best to avoid looking at him because I'm sure I would burst out laughing. He looks like a blind person put blue makeup on his face. I watch the tributes give their interviews. Each tribute has a different angle to play. Each of them vary from sexy to shy to ruthlessness. Katniss is up before I know it.

She walks swiftly onto the stage and shakes Caesar's hand. They take their seats on the white interview chairs.

"So, Katniss, the Capitol must be quite a change from District Twelve. What's impressed you most since you arrived here?" Caesar asks Katniss. She looks through the crowd.

"The lamb stew," says Katniss. Caesar laughs and so does the audience.

"The one with the dried plums?" he asks. She nods. "Oh, I eat it by the bucketful." He turns sideways to the audience in horror, hand on his stomach. "It doesn't show, does it?" They shout things at him and then applaud.

"Now, Katniss. When you came out in the opening ceremonies, my heart actually stopped. What did you think of that costume?"

"You mean after I got over my fear of being burned alive?" she asks. I smile to myself. She's doing better than I thought. I hear the audience laugh. Maybe she can get through this by herself.

"Yes. Start then," says Caesar. Katniss briefly tells the audience that the costume was gorgeous and Cinna is brilliant. She also adds that she can't believe she's also wearing her current dress. She spreads it out for the audience to see.

"I mean, look at it!" she says excitedly. She stands up and spins in a circle. The crowd is ecstatic. Caesar asks her to do it again and she does. She spins around and around. The dress flies out around her as if she is being engulfed in flames. She stops and grips Caesar's arm.

"Don't stop!" he says chuckling.

"I have to, I'm dizzy!" she says giggling. He wraps an arm around her.

"Don't worry, I've got you. Can't have you following in your mentor's footsteps." I actually let out a laugh, but stop when some of the other tributes look at me weird. "It's all right. She's safe with me. So, how about that training score. E-le-ven. Give us a hint what happened in there."

"Um … all I can say, is I think it was a first." she says watching the Gamemakers' balcony.

"You're killing us. Details. Details." A smile appears on my face again.

"I'm not supposed to talk about it, right?" she asks the balcony. They shout something at her.

"Thank you. Sorry. My lips are sealed." says Katniss. The mood in the room shifts to seriousness when Caesar asks about Prim.

"She asked me to try really hard to win."

"And what did you say?"

"I swore I would." she says. I look over to the Careers, they look pissed off.

"I bet you did. Sorry we're out of time. Best of luck, Katniss Everdeen, tribute from District Twelve." says Caesar. Katniss stands up and walks back to her seat next to me while the audience applauds.

I hear my name being called and I stand up and walk onto the stage. Here I go.

**Sorry, I have to cut it off right there. Review please. I would also like to thank you for taking your time to read my story. It means a lot to see people reading my stories.**


	11. THG: the scent of roses

**HEY! :)**** Peeta's confession is one of my favorite parts of the book. I hope you like how it written out. Now, I'll leave it to you.**

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I shake Caesar's hand and sit down in the white chair next to him.

"So, Peeta, what was your life like in District 12?" he asks me.

"Well, when I wasn't at school, I was working at my family's bakery." I say with a smile.

"Oh, so you're a baker. He's a baker." he says addressing the crowd. "What do you do as a baker?"

"I'm the baker's son. " I clarify "And I knead the dough and frost the desserts."

"Well that seems like an exciting experience. Doesn't it folks?" he says laughing.

"Actually Caesar, speaking from my experience of bread, some of the tributes here actually are similar to their district bread." I say ending with a smile.

"How so?" he asks with an intrigued smile on his face. Actually me speaking of bread isn't such a wow factor or anything, but you have to give it to Caesar for helping out the tributes. I briefly explain how the District 4, 11, and 6 tributes are similar to their district bread. Caesar sort of enhances what I say into something the audience understands. They actually laugh at what I'm saying.

"So Peeta, what do you find different about the Capitol?" he asks slightly laughing.

"Okay, well, the showers are a little weird."

"The showers. We have different showers." says Caesar. I nod.

"Tell me Caesar, do I smell like roses to you." I say leaning into him. He gives the crowd a questionable look. "Take a whiff." He leans in and smells me. The crowd laughs when they see this. "Do I?" I ask him when backs away.

"Yes." he answers. "Do I smell like?" He leans into me. I then smell him.

"Mmm." I start giving a laugh. "You definitely smell better than I do."

"Well I've lived here longer."

"That makes sense." I say. The crowd applauds and most of them laugh.

"Funny very funny." he says patting my shoulder. "Your girlfriend must like your humor. I bet she's missing you right now." I look out toward the crowd. I spot Haymitch drinking from his flask. He points at me and nods his head. I read this as 'this is your chance, don't fuck it up'

"You have a girlfriend at home right Peeta?" asks Caesar. I look back at him. How exactly am I suppose to play this off? Maybe if I just go with it, it'll be over before I know it. I feel everyone's eyes on me. My hands are sweating. I shake my head.

"Handsome lad like you. There must be some special girl. Come on, what's her name?" I wonder if this was planned. It could also just be a freaky coincidence. I sigh. It's now or never. I gather all my courage and speak.

"Well, there is this one girl. I've had a crush on her ever since I can remember. But I'm pretty sure she didn't know I was alive until the reaping." Why didn't I say I loved her? It's been more than a crush for over than ten years. I hear sympathetic sighs around the room.

"She have another fellow?" Yeah, Gale and a couple of guys in my class who said she'd make a good wife because she would supply them with food for the rest of their lives I think in my head. But, I can't exactly say that aloud.

"I don't know, but a lot of boys like her," I tell them instead.

"So, here's what you do. You win, you go home. She can't turn you down then, eh?" he says grinning at me.

"I don't think it's going to work out. Winning… won't help in my case," I say with a sad smile.

"Why ever not?" Caesar persists. I scan the crowd, hardly any of them are breathing. I look at the tributes they're all watching me intensively, even Katniss. I face Caesar and I can feel my face burning red.

"Because…" I stammer. I look up at Haymitch. He gives me a stern look. I look back to Caesar. "because… she came here with me." I quickly avert my glance to the floor. I lift my eyes, but not my head, up to view the screen, I see Katniss on it. She has her mouth half open in a mix of what can only be surprise and protest. She drops her head down and stares at the floor. Then the screen is on me and Caesar.

"Oh, that is a piece of bad luck," he says. The crowd agrees with him. I think I can even hear some of them cry out.

"It's not good."

"Well, I don't think any of us can blame you. It'd be hard not to fall for that young lady. She didn't know?" asks Caesar. I shake my head.

"Not until now." I say glancing up at the screen. The screen transitions from me to Katniss. She's blushing like crazy.

"Wouldn't you love to pull her back out here and get a response?" Caesars asks more to the audience than me. The crowd goes wild. I'm not ready to face her yet. "Sadly, rules are rules, and Katniss Everdeen's time has been spent. Well, best of luck to you, Peeta Mellark, and I think I speak for all of Panem when I say our hearts go with yours."

The buzzer goes off, but you can barely hear it over the roar of the crowd. When it quiets down I thank them and walk to my seat. Katniss looks up at me and the look in her eye shows anger. We stand for the anthem and I can see that the screens are dominated by a shot of me and Katniss.

After the anthem, everyone heads over to the elevators. I get shoved into the elevator containing the tributes from District 3, 7, and 9. When the elevator stops on the twelfth floor, I feel palms slam on my chest and I fall backwards from being completely off guard. I fall on the floor with scattered shards from the urn that tipped over.

"What was that for?" I ask.

"You had no right! No right to go saying those things about me!" Katniss yells at me. I hear elevator doors open and I turn my head to see Effie, Haymitch, Cinna, and Portia.

"What's going on? Did you fall?" says Effie with her mouth agape. I sit up and look at my hands. They're bloody. I feel anger rising within me.

"After she shoved me." I tell them as Effie and Cinna help me up.

Haymitch turns onto Katniss. "Shoved him?" he asks with raised eyebrows.

"This was your idea, wasn't it? Turning me into some kind of fool in front of the entire country?" she accuses Haymitch.

"It was my idea," I say. Haymitch looks up at me. "Haymitch just helped me with it."

"Yes, Haymitch is very helpful. To you!" Why is she so pissed? Can't she see we're trying to help her?

"You are a fool. Do you think he hurt you? That boy just gave you something you could never achieve on your own." says Haymitch.

"He made me look weak!" she breaks in.

"He made you look desirable! And let's face it, you can use all the help you can get in that department. You were about as romantic as dirt until he said he wanted you. Now they all do. You're all they're talking about. The star-crossed lovers from District Twelve!" Haymitch yells at her.

"But we're not star-crossed lovers!" she screams in aggravation. Haymitch grabs her shoulders and pins her against the wall. I'm about to step in, but then I realize that I'm suppose to be mad at her. And I guess I am a little angry with her.

"Who cares? It's all a big show. It's all how you're perceived. The most I could say about you after your interview was that you were nice enough, although that in itself was a small miracle. Now I can say you're a heartbreaker. Oh, oh, oh, how the boys back home fall longingly at your feet. Which do you think will get you more sponsors?" That shut her up. She shoves his hands off of her. Cinna puts his arm around her.

"He's right, Katniss." says Cinna.

"I should have been told, so I didn't look so stupid."

"No, your reaction was perfect. If you'd known, it wouldn't have read as real," Portia breaks in. Again, why is she so pissed? Haymitch technically just explained to her that we're helping her… I'm helping her. So what's the problem? It's not like we could ever 'be together' or anything like that. Unless… she's worrying about what Gale is thinking about all this.

"She's just worried about her boyfriend," I say looking over my hand and pulling out a piece of broken urn. I can tell I hit a nerve because then she exclaims that she doesn't have a boyfriend. All right, so she may not have a boyfriend, but Gale has to be what she's worrying about.

"Whatever. But I bet he's smart enough to know a bluff when he sees it. Besides you didn't say you loved you. So what does it matter?" I say. Great, now she's going to think that it's all fake. Her anger subsides and she looks towards the floor like thinking something over.

"After he said he loved me, did you think I could be in love with him, too?" she asks.

"I did. The way you avoided looking at the cameras, the blush." says Portia. I can tell Katniss is embarrassed now by the way she's fidgeting with her hands and shifting her weight from one side to the other.

"You're golden, sweetheart. You're going to have sponsors lined up around the block," says Haymitch. She finally turns her attention to me.

"I'm sorry I shoved you." she says in a quiet voice.

"Doesn't matter," I shrug. "Although it's technically illegal." I raise my hands slightly.

"Are your hands okay?" she asks. I know she feels a little guilty about all this. I don't want to her to feel worse so I tell her they'll be all right. We all stand in the silence until Haymitch speaks up.

"Come on, let's eat." We follow him to the dining room. I settle myself next to Portia and Effie and away from Katniss. I try to eat, but I start feeling sharp pains and the blood flow increases from the cuts on my palms. Portia leads me away to some sort of mini hospital located below the District One floor. Portia has a Capitol attendant clean my hands and wrap them in bandages.

"Wait outside in the hallway. I need to speak to her in private." says the lady who wrapped my hands. I walk out and wait in the hallway like I was told to do. There's nothing really to do, so I just stand there. Then I hear shuffling sounds of feet and voices down the hallway. I look in that direction. Suddenly Districts 1 and 2 tributes appear around the corner. They stop talking when they see me. They all glance at each other. Then the District 2 boy walks over to me.

"Hey, Loverboy," he says. "What happened to you?" I guess the teasing has begun.

"Fell." I say. He smirk and looks back towards the group. Then back at me.

"Well, you seem didn't seem very off balanced at training."

I stay silent and glance at my shoes then look at the door that's still closed.

"What are you goes doing off your floors?" I ask. The tributes are suppose to remain on their District floors unless accompanied by an escort.

"Just exploring." I'm getting the feeling that he is sort of the leader of the group. So… if I want in on the group then he's the one I have to talk to. I have an idea.

"Can you meet me on the roof after everyone goes to bed?" I lower my voice so the group won't hear me.

"Why?" he asks suspiciously.

"I want to talk business with you. Alone." I say. He stares me down for several moments.

"Alright." he says nodding his head. He walks back to his group and they walk back down the hallway. I hear the door behind me open and I turn around. Portia leads me back up to our floor. She explains to me what the lady told her about my hands. When we get there, they have all ready finished their soup.

I try my best to use the utensils, but anyone can see that I'm having some trouble. When we finish eating, we walk over to the sitting room and watch the recaps of the interviews. I think I did pretty well in my interview.

When it's over we all stand up. Effie takes me and Katniss by the hand and wishes us well. She thanks us for being the best tributes she has ever had.

"I wouldn't be at all surprised if I finally get promoted to a decent district next year!" she adds. Although the look in her eyes say that she cares more about us than the possibility of receiving a new district. Tears begin to form in her eyes, but she quickly wipes them away. Effie kisses our cheeks and hurries off to her room.

Haymitch on the other hand stands there with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Any final words of advice?" I ask.

"When the gong sounds, get the hell out of there. You're neither of you up to the bloodbath at the Cornucopia. Just clear out, put as much distance as you can between yourselves and the others, and find a source of water. Got it?" he says.

"And after that?" Katniss asks.

"Stay alive." We nod.

Katniss walks out without a word of goodbye to me. I walk over to Portia.

"Okay, Peeta, tonight try not ruin your bandages in anyway." she says with a concerned look. "Goodnight." Then she walks out.

"Good luck, Peeta," says Cinna. He walks out behind Portia.

"Goodnight Haymitch," I say.

"I need to talk to you on how to get in on the alliance." he says unscrewing his flask. I don't really want to stand in the way of him and his flask right now so I make my way toward my room and call out over my shoulder.

"Don't worry, I got it covered."

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**That is the end of chapter 11. Review please. (: Tell me your thoughts on my story. I'm curious to know what people are thinking. Alright have a good day.**

**~secretTHGluver~**


	12. THG: the alliance

**Hey guys. I am happy to say I found out a way to continue my** **story. My laptop broke so now I'm using my phone. **

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I wait until I hear every door close. I open my door just enough to peer through. I see no one in the hallway. I step out and make my way to the roof.

The air outside is fresh and relaxing. There are noises coming from over the railing. I move my feet in that direction and take a look below.

The Capitol citizens are scattered through the streets. It seems like they are having some sort of Hunger Games party. Are these people seriously celebrating the coming of our  
death?

I feel an urge to drop something on these disgraceful people. My brothers and I used to drop dough that had fallen on the dirty floor from the second floor window. We used to find it  
funny until we realized it was just rude.

I wonder what they are doing right now. I wonder how my mom is taking the news of my love for Katniss. I wonder if my dad is keeping his promise of making sure Katniss's little sister  
gets fed.

My thoughts are interrupted when I hear footsteps behind me. I turn around to see the male tribute from District Two. He actually came.

"What did you want to talk about?" He asks.

"I want to make a deal with you." I say looking him right in the eye. "I want in on the alliance."

His face registers confusion. "Why? What would we benefit from having you in the alliance?"

"Well, I'm strong and I can fight hand to hand and," I pause for dramatic effect "I can help you find her."

Now he seems intrigued. "Why?"

"I know you want her because she has outshined every tribute including you. I could care less about that."

"What else do you know?"

"I know things about her no other tribute can ever guess. I know how she got her eleven and how she's going to use it in the arena. I know where she's going to be camped also." I don't really know that last part, but he doesn't know that. I'll just make something up once we're in the arena.

He seems like he doesn't completely understand what I'm saying.

"I will team up with you and the rest of your allies and I will lead you to her. Once we find her you can kill her and after you can kill me. I won't fight you. Now this will only happen if you save her for last. Kill all the other tributes first."

His face turns suspicious as he appears to be thinking it over.

"It seems like a good offer, but why are you willing to help kill the girl you love?" He asks. He has me there. I need to think of something fast.

"I have my own reasons that you should not be concerned of." I say in my most confident tone. Thankfully he doesn't continue to question me about that. I hear him mummer the word rejected, but I pretend I didn't hear it.

"Alright deal." he says and we shake hands.

"Do not break your deal or else." I say tightening my grip on his hand to point where he feels pain.

"I won't." he says. I release his hand. "When the gong sounds we will need you to collect all the supplies before the other tributes can get to them."

I nod. He walks away back toward the stairway. Once he's out of sight I turn around and stare below. I don't want to go back inside to my room. It's so refreshing out here. I stay out here for I don't know how long. My mind keeps wondering to what tomorrow will be like. I want to know how the rest of the country will react when they see me teamed up with the Careers. I hope when I'm in the arena and when I die people would see that I died following my own rules. Sacrificing myself to give Katniss a chance to win. I doubt it though.

That is something the Capitol would never wanted to happen. I want to die in a way that I'm still myself. Like what my dad said. I make my own decisions. And saving Katniss is my decision. A voice interrupts my thoughts.

"You should be getting some sleep." she says. I look down over the railing and back up, but I don't turn around.

"I didn't want to miss the party. It's for us, after all." I say. She reappears next to me. I carefully glance over at her. She's squinting down at the crowd below us.

"Are they in costumes?" asks Katniss.

"Who could tell? With all the crazy clothes they wear here. Couldn't sleep either?" I ask her.

"Couldn't turn my mind off," she says exasperated.

"Thinking about your family," I say. I can't help but think of my family either. But I know that its less painful to try to push them from your mind.

Katniss puts on a pout. "No. All I can do is wonder about tomorrow. Which is pointless, of course."

I can feel her eyes observing me. "I am really sorry about your hands."

"It doesn't matter, Katniss, I've never been a contender in these Games anyway." I admit.

"That's no way to be thinking." she says.

"Why not? It's true. My best hope is not to disgrace myself and..." I stop myself from saying the last part. I can't exactly tell her because my confession was supposed to be pretend.

"And what?" she asks softly. Um...I guess I have to tell her. This may be my last chance to tell her the truth.

"I don't know how to say it exactly. Only..." I can't do it. I can't tell her. "I want to die as myself. Does that make any sense?" I ask. She shakes her head. Nice save I think to myself.

"I don't want them to change me in there. Turn me into some kind of monster that I'm not." Although I'm lying there is truth to what I'm saying. I don't want to become some sort of killing machine. Katniss bites her lip and looks over at my with some sort of guilty look. I don't know what she could possibly be guilty about.

"Do you mean you won't kill anyone?" she asks like she can't believe what she's hearing. Of course no matter how much I don't want to, I know that being apart of the careers I'll have to kill innocent lives.

"No, when the time comes, I'm sure I'll kill just like everybody else. I can't go down without a fight. Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to ... to show the Capitol they don't own me. That I'm more than just a piece in their games."

"But you're not," she quickly responds. "None of us are. That's how the Games work."

"Okay, but within that framework, there's still you, there's still me." I say. "Don't you see?"

Come on she has to know what I'm talking about. She just has to, I can't be the only one who cares about this.

"A little. Only ... no offense, but who cares, Peeta?"

Really? I guess I am the only who really cares. I thought of all people she would understand. Right now in this moment, I feel a little ticked off. We both came from the district, we both saw the same things in that district. She should care.

"I do. I mean what else am I allowed to care about at this point." I look deep into her eyes. I want her to know what I feel. But, from her response I don't think she does. She steps away from me.

"Care about what Haymitch said. About staying alive."

This brings a mix of emotions to me. But they are nothing compared to my glee to hearing that statement. She cares about me even when she knows that only one leaves this city alive.

I feel a smile creep onto my lips. "Okay. Thanks for the tip, sweetheart." I can tell that I just offended her. I wait for her comeback. She over looks the city one more time then turns her head to me.

"Look, if you want to spend the last hours of your life planning some noble death in the arena, that's your choice. I want to spend mine in District Twelve." I'll make sure she does.

"Wouldn't surprise me if you did. Give my mother my best when you make it back, will you?" I say and I mean it. She steps slightly closer to me.

"Count on it." Then she turns around and starts walking toward the exit. I turn my head to watch her walk out. I turn back around and stare up at the sky.

You can hardly see any stars here. Back home, when I was just a little kid, me and my father used to stare at the sky and make pictures out of the stars. I push the thought from my mind. It hurts to think about them. A tear rolls down my cheek. I wipe it. I have to be strong, I can't be sensitive in anyway. I take one last deep breathe of fresh air and walk back to my room.

I change into soft comfortable pants. I take off my shirt and let it fall to the floor. I crawl under the covers and fall asleep when my head hits the pillow.

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**Okay, I just completed this story on my phone so I hope it** **comes out okay. Anyway, please review. I wish to hear some** **feedback. :) **

** ~secretTHGluver~**


	13. THG: the visit

**Hello, I apologise before hand if the chapter is short. Other than that I hope u like it. Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Hunger Games. **

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I am awaken by a loud bang on my door. I sit up and rub my eyes. I slowly rise to get the door. I unlock it, although I don't remember ever locking the door in the first place. Haymitch stands there leaning against the door frame, obviously very drunk. He has a bottle that is almost empty in his hand.

I take a glance over at the clock. 2:47a.m, great I was asleep for about an two hour and a half. What could Haymitch possibly want right now? He shoves past me and walks over to the chair in the corner of the room. I close the door quietly.

"Come in, come in," I mutter sarcastically. I sit down on the corner of the bed and face him. I open my mouth to say something, but he raises his hand. And then he flexes his index finger back and forth as if he's saying 'come closer'.

I lean forward slightly. He looks from side to side like he has some juicy secret he doesn't want anyone to know about. Then, he looks at me and belchs right in front of my face. Not what I was expecting. I immediately back up and wave my hand through the air in front of me. Haymitch throws his head back laughing. I end up laughing with him.

"I can't believe you fell for that, kid," he says slapping his hand on the arm of the chair.

"I can't believe you woke me up just to do that in front of my face. I thought I'm suppose to get some sleep for tomorrow." I tell him. His smile diminishes from his face. Then, he scratches the back of his head and leans back in the chair.

"I wanted to make sure you got everything covered."

"I do. I've already talked to the Careers and I'm in."

He let's out a sigh of relief. I think Haymitch actually does care about us. He probably thinks that Katniss really could win this and I could fulfill my purpose of protecting her. A smile forms on my face from the thought.

"What you happy 'bout?" he asks with his speech slightly slurred. I look up at him and then back at my hands that are resting on my lap. I shake my head. "You don't want to tell me that's fine...So, how do you feel about your rejection?"

"What?" I gander at him and see that he has a crooked smirk on his face.

"Don't play dumb. You know what I'm talking about."

I don't really know what I was expecting. I already knew that she didn't like me the same way, but I guess I didn't think she would attack me either.

"I don't know. I guess I wasn't expecting her to attack me."

"Oh, so you wanted her to jump into your arms and you two will live happily ever after...you know... until you're thrown into the arena to kill each other," he says sarcastically.

I stay silent. My head is filled with so many worries right now. Is Katniss going to have enough sponsors to keep her alive? Did they even buy our story? What happens when the Careers do catch her? Will the Careers even keep their promise?

I lay back and put my left arm over my eyes as if the sun is buring bright. "No," I finally answer him. "I was not. I just hope I did enough to get her sponsors."

"Don't worry. She'll get a lot more sponsors than she really needs," he says gulping down the last of his liquor bottle.

"Yea I guess your right." Then out of no where, he starts chuckling to himself.

"Just to let you know, it'd take a lot of convincing for her to believe what you did, when I tell her," he says standing up. He walks to the door and opens it.

"What do you mean?" I ask him. He turns his head to face me.

"You're a smart kid. You figure it out." With that he walks out and closes the door behind him.

I surprisingly find sleep again until I'm awoken by Portia. She has me change into a simple outfit. She guides me to the roof and onto a hovercraft ladder. As I place my foot on the step, I feel a strange electricity run through my body and I'm completely frozen to the ladder. I can't move any part of my body. The ladder is reeled in and I'm taken into the hovercraft.

A lady appears with a syringe in her hand. "Okay, hold still please. I need to place your tracker." I don't think I can move even if I tried. She slides the needle into my arm. I immediately feel a sharp pain, but as fast as it came its gone. "Thank you for corporating." Then she's disappears behind a door.

I feel the electricity stop flowing through my body and I step off the ladder and walk to the center of the small room.

It's all whitish grey panels with two identical doors on two opposite walls. The one on the left was the door the lady disappeared through. I turn around and see Portia stepping off the ladder. A boy, probably an Avox, appears from the door on the right and gestures for us to walk through it. Portia puts her hand on my shoulder and nods. I walk through the door and Portia and the boy follow behind me.

I'm now in some sort of hallway with different colored doors on them. The boy steps in front of me and gestures for us to follow him. We're lead down to a door near the end of the hall. The boy opens the door for us. Portia and I step in. I turn and see the boy walk back the way we came.

The room is a fair size. The walls look just like it did in the previous room. Except there are seats and a table with food on it. Portia sits down and I sit across from her. We both began to fill our plates with the variety of food. I don't eat very much. Probably half of what I served myself.

"Try and eat some more," she says pushing the plate closer to me. I just shake my head. "Okay. Here have a glass of water." She fills a glass and hands it to me. I grab it and stare into it. I lift the glass to my lips and take a sip. As I place it on the table, I notice that my hands are shaky. The nerves are starting to get to me. I take a few deep breaths.

"Are you feeling okay, Peeta?"

I simply nod my head. She grabs my hand and squeezes it. "Don't worry. You'll do fine. Just follow the advice Haymitch told you." I suddenly miss my mother. Even though she stopped showing me real affection after I was four, I still miss her. Portia is kind of like the mother I didn't have. She has me drink more water until I've drank a full cup. Then, the window in the room goes dark. After a while, the boy comes back and leads us back to the ladder. We descend down a tube that leads underground.

The room I'm standing in is referred to as the Launch Room. Back at home, its known as Stockyard. Portia has me shower and clean my teeth while we're waiting for the arena clothes to arrive. When I'm all cleaned up, Portia drys and combs my hair. She doesn't do anything fancy to my hair. She neatly combs down the waves of hair on my head.

Finally the clothes arrive and Portia inspects the material. "Interesting. This jacket is made to reflect body heat. I think it may be a bit cold in the arena." She has me change into new undershorts and then she has put on the pants given to me. Then she hands me a thin short sleeved black shirt. I slip over my head and turn around so she van help me into my jacket. After, she has me put on the brown belt. Finally I pull up the tight socks and put on the black boots. Portia laces the second boot while I double knot the first boot she laced. She hands me the second boot and I slip my left foot into it and double knot the laces.

Once I'm finished dressing, Portia has me stretch my arms out and roll my shoulder back and forth to see if my clothes fit properly. "Peeta, did you ever bring a token with you?" Damn, I forgot to bring one. I shake my head. "Well, I figured. So, I brought you one." She opens her hand to reveal a thin wooden bracelet with a loaf of bread carved into it. I grin at her and pull her into a hug. I whisper a thank you into her ear. I release her and she puts the bracelet on my wrist. "Good luck."

She tells me to step onto the metal plate and wait. "Peeta, keep your head high. Show that your strong." Then, a glass cylinder closes around me. I look at her for direction. She nods her head and I can see a few tears roll down her cheek. The plate begins to rise and I have to squint my eyes because the light blinds. I feel a breeze blow by my face. I look around me to see where I am. I see a forest and a lake and in front of me is the Cornucopia. I smell pine trees coming from the forest. Then, I hear Claudius Templesmith's voice boom around us.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games began!"

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**Hurray! I finally made it to the Games. Okay, so that felt sort of like a long chapter. Anyway ... I would like to thank a few people for reviewing and PMing me. First i would like to thank ****_Cassy_**** for all your supporting reviews. Next I would like to thank ****_ .wish _****for your lovely review. Now, I would like to thank ****_OliviaHG4215 _****for both of your encouraging reviews. Next, I would like to thank** _**Guest**_** for your review as well. Finally I would like to thank _ .1 _for your PM. I thank all of you reading for continuing to read this. So Lets all have a review party and lets all do the review dance with your computer mouse :) In other words, I mean...Please Review. A review would actually encourage me to update faster. **

**~ secretTHGluver**


	14. THG: the arena

**How do you do? Hello. What's up? Hey! Sup. Hi. *A few ways to** **say hello* I hope you had a good week. I am extremely sorry** **about not updating last weekend. My laptop still hasn't been** **fixed so I'm using my cell phone. Sometimes if I'm lucky, I** **can use a computer. Actually, during 'free time' in my** **computer class, I've been working on parts of the chapter. Further more, here is the complete chapter I've been piecing** **together these past two weeks. **

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING OF THE HUNGER GAMES. EVERYTHING** **BELONGS TO SUSANNE COLLINS.**

* * *

"Let the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games Begin." Now we're allowed sixty seconds to stand on our metal plates until we hear the sound of a gong. You are not allowed to move until that gong rings or else you're blown sky high into thousands of tiny bits of human remains. Can you imagine dieing before the Games even officially begin? It would be more horrible if it went like this: 3,2...(slips off plate)..BOOM!...1..GONG RINGS. I bet those barbaric Capitol citizens would love to laugh at that.

I look around me and see a lake slightly behind me and what seems to be some kind of cliff to my right. In front of me is the legendary Cornucopia. There are supplies scattered around it. It appears to be separated by their importance. Weapons and more important survival stuff are closer to the inside of the Cornucopia, while things of less importance are closer to the tributes.

I can see a two foot long, thick rope about five feet away from me. I don't know what you can use that rope for, but it must be usuable for something. I start to scan the tributes around me. About five tributes to my left I see Katniss gazing at something near the Cornucopia. I look the same way and see a bow and arrows. The only one there. That must be meant for her. I look back at her and just by the look on her face I can tell that she's debating whether or not to go after it.

She looks over at me. I shake my head hoping that she understands that I don't think its a good idea. I thought that she would've listened to Haymitch. Her face registers confusion. Then I hear the gong go off. Katniss hesitates before she runs off towards the bow and arrows. Shit! Why couldn't she listen to Haymitch? I take off running towards the Cornucopia after her.

Halfway there, someone tackles me to the ground. I flip over and see the boy from District Seven. He has a lightweight ax in his hand. He swings it at my head, but I roll over and instead it wedges deep into the ground. While he tries to yank it out of the ground, I try to stand.

I regain my feet and he let's go of the ax and tackles me down again. He starts punching my face, hard. Being in wrestling, I know exactly what to do. I put my arms over my face and when I feel him weakening I grab him by the shoulders and throw him off of me. He lands next to his ax. While I try to stand, he frees his ax from the ground.

He raises it and takes a swing. I duck. Out of nowhere the boy from District 2 sends a spear through the boy's chest. He nods his head as if saying 'you're welcome'. I nod back. I run towards him, but something catches my eye. I turn my head and see Katniss being attacked from the girl from District Two. I run at her. The boy from District Two sees the same thing as well and runs at her too.

We both reach her just as she is about to take off after Katniss. He begins yelling at her. She then turns to me.

"I'm sorry. I didn't recognise her. I was taking aim at anyone who's not my ally," she says sincerely.

"It's okay. Just remember the deal," I say harshly. They better keep to the deal. I follow them to the Cornucopia. Once there I'm handed a knife. I slide the knife into my belt. The boy from 2 grabs a sword and a spear.

"Cato, over here." The boy from District Two turns his head to the girl from 1. So that must be his name.

"Clove follow me," says Cato. The girl from his district follows him. I guess Clove is her name.

"What do I do?" I yell at him. He points to the boy from District Three and yells back to ask him. I jog over to him and dodge the remaining tributes who are clearing out of here, obviously not wanting a fight. I ask him what he wants me to do. He tells me to move the crates of supplies off to the side by the lake.

I do as he says. One by one I carry the crates and bins of supplies. The boy has me stack them up into what becomes a great, big pyramid. Halfway, I'm joined by Cato and the boy from District One. Once we're done, we join the girls who going through the weapons that are on the floor and the dead tributes.

I feel weird seeing all those bodies scattered across the ground. No movement. No rise and fall of their chests. No more. Inside of me something feels twisted and unnerved. I jump to the sound of a canon. Then another and another. I count a total of eleven canons. We move out to the sides by the lake. Above me is a hovercraft that grabs at the blood stained ground. One after the other. All the bodies of those innocent children are being lifted up and out of the arena. Gone forever from the world. I turn away from the final body that's being lifted away. I stare at the ground.

A moment of silence is all I can give them. Someone taps my shoulder, interrupting the moment. I turn around and see the girl from District Four. She has short light brown hair that's put up in a ponytail. During training, I thought her eyes were brown, but apparently up close they are a dark green.

"You okay?" she asks. I nod my head. I can't be seen as weak. "Alright." She nods her head and joins the others. My eyes scan the surrounding area. I take in a deep breath since this may be my last quiet moment before my body is lying in a wooden box that's being shipped back to District Twelve. Here I go. I walk back and join the group.

"Alright, shit's about to get real. First, grab what weapons you want. Then, we're going to need a schedule," says Cato. Didn't his parents teach him manners? My mother would kill me if she heard me or my brothers swear. That's why they only swore when she wasn't around.

One time I was walking home with my brothers and their friends. I was only half listening to what they were saying because I was watching Katniss out of the corner of my eye. They were talking about something from wrestling practice. I don't remember exactly what my brother Seth said, but he said it loud enough for the surrounding people to send questionable looks his way. Then his friend Avery said rather loud,"Seth, don't fucking curse so loud. Do you want the  
whole fucking town to hear? Shit, Seth." Then they all burst out laughing. I walked away from them because I didn't find  
it funny.

I slightly shake my head to clear the thought and remote my attention back to Cato. "After us four will do the hunting for now." he motions his hand to him, Clove, and both tributes from District One. "Once Sheldon finishes with his job then you two can join us." He points to me and the girl from District Four. I'm guessing Sheldon is the boy from District Three. I simply nod my head in agreement.

A couple of hours later, Cato, Clove, Marvel , and Glimmer are out investigating the surrounding area and me and Lucile are watching Sheldon rewire the launching plates that we dug up for him. I recently found out their names from hearing them talk to each other. Surprisingly, he finishes right when they come back.

"Now, you're sure that this will work?" asks Marvel nervously. "It won't kill us if we try to take food from the bins."

"Don't worry nothing will happen to you. Only if you know the proper path to the food bins," he says matter-of-factly. He  
looks at our lost faces. "I'll show you." He walks through between the plates that he wired into mines. He touches one of the bins and then walks back out. "Easy," he says.

We all take turns learning the path with Sheldon instructing us on what to do. I began to get that feeling that someone's  
watching me. I turn around quick enough to catch a glimpse of red quickly moving through a bush. I know that it has to be another tribute. I don't say anything to the others because I don't want to see anyone else die today.

It becomes twilight pretty quickly. Clove suggests the idea of hunting tributes at night while they're sleeping. We all agree to go, but Lucile says that someone should stay to watch the camp. Sheldon volunteers for that.

As we take off hunting, I notice what weapon Glimmer has. She has Katniss's bow and arrows. I need to find a way to get  
those to her.

We run for what felt like an hour with short breaks every now and then. Then we hear the anthem play. We tilt our heads  
towards the sky. The Capitol shows headshots of the tributes and their District number below headshots come in order.

First is the girl from District Three, then the boy from 4, and the boy from 5. Then both from 6 and 7. I look away when I see the boy from 7. I watched him die right in front of me. After that is the boy from 8 and both from 9. One last tribute to go. The girl from 10 appears. Okay Katniss is still alive. Well, of course she's alive. She's a survivor who's going to win this Game.

They play the anthem one more time and then the sky goes dark. We take off at a jog. We go deeper and deeper into the  
woods. Is it just me or does the woods look evil at night like branches might grab you out of nowhere and then you're never heard from again.

We've stopped for a break again. Suddenly we hear the pounding of rushing feet on the forest floor. I pull the knife from my belt and the others ready their weapons. It's a pack of wild dogs. Cato rams his sword into one of the dogs. Marvel sends a spear through a dog's chest. Clove hits the other dog right where the heart is. Glimmer fails to shot any of the dogs with her bow and arrows. I don't think she knows how to use them. There are two dogs that are both attacking Lucile. She only has a small knife with the blade split in three to resemble a trident.

The two dogs circle her. The other Careers are all preoccupied with their own dog. She tries stabbing the dog in front, but the dog behind her tries to bite at her arms. I grip on my knife and with my other arm I grab the dog around the middle and stick the knife into its throat. It drops dead to the floor. I look at my hand that just killed an innocent thing. Then I remember that it wasn't all innocent. The dog was attacking Lucile. I think I sort of saved her life.

"Thank you," says Lucile. I look up at her. "Your welcome." Is all I say. I bend down and flip the dog over. I pull out the knife and I don't even bother to clean it before I slide it into my belt. She pulls out her knife as well. Clove notices that we need to be fixed up.

We decide to make temporary camp. I put a bandage on my arm where the dog scratched me. I don't even recall the dog  
scratching me, but the evidence is there. Glimmer and Cato get first watch. Good I wouldn't mind a few minutes of shut  
eye. Anything could happen at any time.

I lay down and put my left arm behind my head. My eyelids become heavy in the matter of seconds. I fall into a dreamless sleep. I am soon shaken awaken.

"Up! Everyone up!" Cato calls. I immediately look around to see what's wrong. I don't really see anything disrupted, but  
then I notice the smoke. Some has lit a fire in the distance. I doubt it'd be Katniss. She's too smart to do anything like that. That person is practically asking to get killed. Whoever it is probably doesn't have much supplies for warmth, so he or she had to build a fire to stay warm. Now that I think about it, it is quite cold out here.

We quickly pack our gear and head in the direction of the fire. By the time we're in view of the tribute. Dawn has begun to break.

"Lighting a fire isn't exactly a smart plan," says Cato. She looks completely scared out of her skin.

"Please. Please don't kill me. Please!" she says with tears rolling down her cheeks. Cato is shaking his head with a smile on his face. While doing that he does this kind of clicking inside his mouth repeatedly.

"Sorry. That's not how you play this game."

The girl tries to make a run for it, but Clove and Marvel grab her arms. She screams really loud. They bring her to her knees while she continues to scream.

Taunting her, Cato traces from her ear and her jawline down to her chin. She's screaming and crying. He takes his sword  
and runs it through her stomach. The girl collapses to the ground. I shut my eyes and try my best to get rid of the image of what I have just seen. They all start laughing and calling out celebrations. "Twelve down and eleven to go," calls out Clove. Then they all start hootingand hollering, but I just stay quiet.

"Check her for supplies," says Cato. We do as he says, but the girl didn't have much. She had a small bag of dried fruit, which Marvel puts in his bag. She had a box of matches, which Glimmer claims, and a sharp long rock that I guess she used as a makeshift knife. Cato, just tosses it aside.

"Better clear out so they can get the body before it starts stinking," says Cato. The others murmur in agreement. Again I stay quiet.

We begin walking out through the trees again. I get that strange feeling of being watched coming from the trees around  
us. I start scanning the trees for the source. Then, I hear the rustle of leaves and I look in that direction. The others debunk it as the wind blowing through the trees, but I get the feeling it's another tribute.

"Shouldn't we have heard a canon by now?"

I strain my eyes to see through the foliage. All I can make out is a slight silhouette of a head and shoulders.

"I'd say yes. Nothing to prevent them from going in immediately."

I'm pretty sure that it's a girl by the hair.

"Unless she isn't dead."

From the looks of it, her hair is fixed into a braid.

"She's dead. I stuck her myself."

It can't be. There can be any other tribute out there with a braid.

"Then where's the canon?"

"Someone should go back. Make sure the job's done."

It can't be her. It just can't be.

"Yeah, we don't want to have to track her down twice."

There is that chance that it could be her.

"I said she's dead!"

If I've spotted her, it won't be long until they've spotted her too. I have to get them away from her.

"We're wasting time! I'll go finish her and let's move on!" I say interrupting their argument. They all state at me in disbelief.

"Go on, then, Lover Boy. See for yourself,"says Cato. I don't like that name, but I don't say anything against it. I take off walking back towards the girl.

When I reach her, she is in fact still alive. I take my knife out of my belt. She looks up at me with tears in her eyes. I stab her through the heart. She is for sure dead now.

_I am not a killer. I killed her out of mercy. She would have slowly and painfully died. I ended her suffering._ I repeat this to myself.

"I'm sorry." Then I walk back to where the group is waiting. Just by the way they all silenced when I show up, I can tell they were talking about me.

"Was she dead?"

"No. But she is now," I say. Then canon goes off to confirm what I just said. "Ready to move on?"

They nod their heads and we take off at a run. I successfully lead them away from what may or may have not been Katniss. But, what would I do if we ran into her again and the Careers don't keep to their promise? I hope we don't cross paths again until I have a plan, but the Gamemakers would most likely make sure it happens.

* * *

**Again I'm sorry I didn't update last week, but I have a four day weekend maybe I'll be able to update again this weekend. I hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day. And I can't wait to see the Oscars. I hope Jennifer Lawrence wins. Who's with me!? **

**Anyway, let's have a review dance. Everyone do the review dance. You know you want to. I promise its fun. Even guests can do the review dance, not just members. Come on, members and guests do the review dance. Lets all do it. Review, please. **

**Just to let you know, I do a little celebration dance,when I see someone left a review.**

**~ secretTHGluver ~**


	15. THG: the boy from 3

**Hello, my fellow Tributes. I hope you had a lovely week and** **an even greater weekend. Yesterday was such a great day. At** **school I found out I raised my grade and after school I found** **out about the new promotional photo for Catching Fire. I** **started fangirling like crazy. According to my friend, I was** **overreacting because to her it was just a picture of Katniss** **and Peeta. No, no, no. To me it was like a perfect birthday** **present. **

**Now I'm sure you don't want to hear what I'm saying, so on to the story. **

* * *

We continue through the early morning with no trace of a tribute. We don't run into any more animals as well. Cato finally leads us back to the camp by the lake when the sun is barely clearing above the trees.

When we arrive at the camp, Sheldon is making his way to the supply pyramid.

"What are you doing?" Cato questions him. His voice registers anger and suspicion. Sheldon must hear it too because he backs away from the supplies.

"I-I was...I was going to...get a snack," Sheldon stuttered. Cato began walking long strindes toward him. Sheldon looked like a puppy cowering in a dark corner looking up at its master, eyes begging not to be punished.

"Who gave you permission?" asks Cato with a not an angered tone, but a venomous tone.

"I..I-I didn't..I didn't know I had to ask," says Sheldon, his lip quivering in fear. Cato towers over him shifting his weight to his left leg. Cato leans over so they are face to face.

"You ask _ME_. Do you understand?"

Sheldon nods his head quickly. The others snicker, but I don't. I clench my jaw to keep myself from doing something I might regret.

The day seems to be dragging on rather slowly. The sun has traveled now from the eastern side of the arena and is now drifting to the west. I'd judge the time to be somewhere in the afternoon. Sheldon and I are supposed to watch the camp while the others are "inspecting" nearby area for tributes, but I don't really bother.

I am laying on the green grass staring up at the sky. My ears are taking in all surrounding noises. I hear the birds chirp, rustling of the nearby tree leaves, and Sheldon drumming the bottom of his spear into the ground.

My thoughts begin to drift back to home. Is my family worried for me? I'm not sure of my mom, but I'm positive my dad and brothers are worrying for me. Calum and Delly would most definitely be worried for me. I wonder how the country is handling the fact I joined the Careers. District Twelve never joins the Careers. I bet the people back home think I'm a traitor. What would Katniss think? She would probably think I'm a traitor too.

I told her I didn't want to shame myself, but that is exactly what I did. I joined the people who are the brutal murders of the Games. That's not me, but yet ... here I am.

I bolt upright, now feeling uncomfortable with myself. I look over at the boy from 3. His face registers full concentration as his eyes scan the forest, the Cornucopia, and the supplies.

"How did you get in?" I startle him. He snaps his head toward me so fast I'm worried he may have pulled something. He relaxes when he realises I just want to talk.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, how did you get in with the Careers?"

"Oh. Um... in training they saw me help rewire the plants memorization monitor. The maintenance didn't understand the complex wiring and I did. So, I offered to help," he says. "Cato confronted me after training and asked me if I knew how to wire anything else-"

"So, wait. Cato already knew what he wanted to happen once we landed in here," I say to him. Well, I said it more to myself than him.

"I guess so," says Sheldon. He looks like he wants to say more, but he bites his lip hesitantly. I look down at the grass. It looks so perfect and artificial. I grasp at it and pull. My hand opens to a small heap of torn grass piled on the palm of my hand.

"What about you?" he asks. I stay silent while plucking at grass. I can feel his eyes trained upon me. "I wouldn't have thought you to join them after what you said in your interview." I can tell where this is going, but I can't trust him with that kind of knowledge.

I do the mistake of glancing up at him. He's sitting on the rectangular weapons box. His feet dangle just above the ground. His face is curiously in thought. I feel certain that our conversation is onscreen at this moment.

"Well, I just.. I-I just." Now I'm lost for words. I stare at him with concentration. I should be able to trust somebody here.

"Can I trust you?" I ask with a harsh seriousness in my voice. He nods his head. That's not enough. "You promise you won't tell them or else I will personally kill you."

"I promise."

"I made a deal with them. Do you remember the girl from my District," I say. He nods his head. "Well, she is the main threat to them. They want her dead more than anything. I told Cato I could lead him to her and I can, but I'm not going to. I'm giving them false hope."

A small smile formed on his face when I said I was giving them false hope. I bet the audience will be thrilled to know the truth.

"I'm going to make sure she lives and kills each and every one of the Careers."

His smile widens and he just sits there smiling. I guess he too doesn't consider himself a Career. After a while his smile diminishes. I look in the direction he's looking and see the five Careers headed toward us.

"We've got new information to tell you guys," says Clove with an evil look in her eye.

"One: we figured out where the boy from District Eleven went," says Marvel proudly. "We caught him running through the field of tall grass. It's just over that hill." He points his long thin forefinger to the hill across from the Cornucopia.

"I think we even saw your little girlfriend, Loverboy," says Glimmer. I have their full attention now.

"Don't worry we didn't chase her or anything. I'm not even a hundred percent sure it was her," says Cato. "The girl looked a little short to be her, but she was up high in a tree. She jumped from tree to tree."

"I think it could have been the girl from 11, but I'm apparently the only one," says Lucile. The conversation dies down from there. I look over at Sheldon.

He place the tips of his index finger and thumb together and glides them over his lips. He then turns them at the corner of his lips. Then he tosses his hand over shoulder.

His lips are sealed and my secret is safe. The corner of my lips turn up into a smile.

* * *

**Alrighty then. That is the end of this chapter. Disclaimer:** **I own nothing of the Hunger Games. **

**Members and Guests please stand up and join the awesome review dance. Let the Review Dancing begin. I'll see you all in the next chapter. Hopefully I'll get more reviews, which** **would be awesome because I would get to do my celebration dance. **

**Lastly before I go, I would like to thank ****_Admin Catnip_****, ****_Laura_****_Tomlinson_****, ****_Alivegirl4ever2012_****, and ****_OliviaHG4215_**** for your** **awesome reviews. They are greatly appreciated.**

**~ secretTHGluver ~**


	16. THG: the wave of red

**Hello my dear Tributes! So, good to see you all here again. I** **would like to thank you just for taking the time out of your** **day to read my story. It is greatly appreciated. I would also like to thank the lovely people who reviewed. You made my day. That's all I** **have to say, so read on. **

**Disclaimer: The Hunger Games belongs to the brilliant Suzanne** **Collins. Not me.**

* * *

Night falls upon us and the anthem booms throughout the arena. The girl I killed early this morning appears in the sky. The innocent girl I finished off so she wouldn't suffer was from District Eight. I hope she is no longer suffering, but I know that her friends and family back in 8 will be.

We continue with our supper. Cato has put a strict limit towhat we are allowed to take from the supplies. My supper is simply a few slices of Gamemaker made bread. From the rough texture and the fluff of the middle, I would have to say that this bread was made preserved. The Gamemakers intended the bread to be able to be kept for a while before going bad. I also take some sips of water that we purified from the lake.

Once we are all finish with our small supper, Cato and Glimmer seperate us off for hunting. Cato, Marvel, and I go hunting while Glimmer, Clove, and Sheldon watch the camp.

"Which direction do you guys want to take," asks Cato. He actually asked for our opinion. I thought he's the leader of the group. He makes all of the decisions.

"How about we look for that guy from 11," Marvel replies with confidence in his tone. I think he likes the idea of him making the decision. "I think its best to take out one of the threats while we have our strength up."

"Alright, that's not a bad idea," Cato says turning his head to the direction of the hill.

At this compliment, Marvel straightens his back lifts his head high. He continues like this as we jog across the clearing with the Cornucopia to our right. We reach the hill and we stop in our tracks.

It's a field full of different colored grasses. There's a brown patch of grass to my farthest right. To my farthest left there's a greenish yellowish patch and next to it there's a patch that resembles tan skin. In the middle there's a dull-

"Okay, let's head down," says Cato interrupting my thoughts. He doesn't even wait for our okay, he heads down hill at a fast speed. Marvel and I start after him. We finally reach him at the bottom.

He starts walking into the tall grass. It goes up to the bottom of his shoulder blade. He twirls the sword in his hand and then strikes out at some of the grass. The top of the grass flys through the wind until it falls on the ground a few feet away.

We follow him through the tall grass that comes up to my shoulders. Cato keeps his sword at the ready, but he doesn't strike out at any more of the grass. I think he's planning a surprise attack. We continue throughout the field at a rather slow and cautious pace.

I feel the need to look over my shoulder every few minutes to see if anything is behind me. I'm not the only one. Marvel does it repeatedly and Cato has done it a couple of times. After probably ten minutes, we head back. Once out of the sinister sea of grass, we decide that its best if we don't try to track him if he's in that field. We'll wait for him to leave the field for us to track him.

Good. I don't want to ever go back into that field. You can never know what could be in there. Snakes, quicksand, or even rabid animals. It's an endless possibility. We continue the night searching through the woods.

By morning we're back at the camp with an unsuccessful hunt. For breakfast I squizze **(AN:I forgot how to spell that)** out the juice from an orange I found in a bag in the bin. I then eat the insides of the orange.

An orange back in District Twelve is such a luxury, some of the merchant families can't even afford them. My family being one of them. My dad prefers to buy things to care for the family. Of course those things are for Brody or mother and sometimes himself. Mostly its stuff for the bakery. Supplies and stuff like that.

I don't really complain because I understand that it must be hard to keep a business going and supply a family of five. Seth complains often because he doesn't want Brody's hand-me-downs. I get the hand-me-downs from Seth and I'm fine with it.

"Alright, I think that the trap will uphold its purpose. Tonight I think we can all go on a hunt," Cato speaks up after the silence that has been casted over us for the past few hours has become uncomfortable.

"I don't think we should bring him along," Glimmer says nodding her head toward Sheldon.

"Why not?" I question her with more venom in my voice than I intended.

"I agree. Sheldon should stay to watch his trap. What if we leave and it doesn't work?" Clove says raising her voice and getting on her feet. I stand as well.

"I think he knows what he's doing and if he thinks that the trap works then I agree with him," I say my voice rising at the end of the sentence.

"Well, I wasn't asking you-"

"Peeta's right," Cato says interrupting Clove. "Sheldon knows what he's doing other wise he wouldn't still be alive. He's the expert in rewiring shit!"

Everyone has gone silent. We all stare at Cato. "He's coming along with us. That's that. Lets get moving."

No one moves."Now!" We snap out of our dumbfounded moment and follow him while griping our weapons.

We walk through the forest for hours before we decide to make camp. We separate the food that we have in the packs and then we sit and eat supper. It isn't long before the anthem plays and reports that there was no deaths today.

Cato and Marvel take first watch. I lay down near Sheldon and stare at the night sky until my eyelids become heavy. My dream is confusing.

_I am running through the woods alone. _

_It is dark, yet it is bright. _

_I feel a strong heat licking my backside as I run._

_Like sitting close to a fireplace, but my back turned to it._

_Katniss appears next to me._

_She's telling me to run faster._

_I see a wave of red behind us._

_We both begin to choke on the black smoke that has surrounded us._

_I turn to face Katniss and I see her be swallowed by the wave of red._

_I scream her name..._

_and then everything goes black_

"Peeta! Wake UP!"

That's the voice of Sheldon. My eyelids snap open. I see him pointing at something behind me. I turn and see what I saw in my dream. _The wave of red. _

* * *

**That took me forever to write. All week I had a different assignment from almost all my of my classes. I finally had a break today and the reason for that is because it's Saturday. Sometimes teachers get on my nerves. Anyway that's off topic. **

**Anyway, do me a big favor and click on that lovely review button. If you do you will have accomplished the act of making someone's day. Pretty please with a cherry on top review. I shall see you all next time. May the odds be ever in your favor!**

**~ secretTHGluver ~**


	17. THG: the firing pain

**Hello my awesome readers, I would like to thank the wonderful** **guests who reviewed last chapter. Now let's get this show on** **the road. I give you chapter 17 of Peeta's Story.**

* * *

Running. Escaping. Surviving. Those three words are bouncingaround in my brain. All three are demanding my attention. My feet do not move. I do not move. My eyes peer at the fire in the distance. It is quickly burning towards me. I don't remember where I am.

"Peeta! Move!"

I tear my eyes away from the flames and I see a boy around the age of thirteen. His scared expression is all I need to register my whereabouts. I am a tribute in the Hunger Games. I am currently in a life or death situation.

"Run!"

We take off at full speed with Cato in the lead. Clove and I bring up the rear. Glimmer, Sheldon, and Marvel are all tied for second. I look around me and see not only us fleeing the flames, but also animals. I remember in school my teacher said something about animals having great instincts especially when it comes to danger.

As long as we run in the same direction as the animals, we're sure to make it out alive. Cato yells something over at Sheldon. I couldn't make out what he was saying, but whatever it was made Sheldon run ahead of us into a path diagnol to the direction we're headed.

It isn't long until the flames catch up to us. The forest is in chaos. Branches snap off the trees in front of us causing us to jump back just close in range to feel the heat of the flames. That's when we all begin to choke on smoke.

We run around the branches and keep moving forward. We quickly become out of breath because of the cloud of smoke  
hanging over us.

We stop for a moment and try our best to catch our breath. Cato orders us to cover our noses with our shirts. My fingers  
close around the shirt's neckline and pull it up over my nose. We run again. We run for what feels like a lifetime.

My lungs feel as if they have been engulfed by flames. I cough and run at the same time. Even through the shirt, I can still smell the smoke. It's like the shirt is giving no protection at all.

We reach a clearing and we slow down to a halt. Once again we try to catch our breath. That's when a ball of fire comes spiraling towards us, towards me. I pull my hands up to cover my face and jerk backwards. I immediately feel a burning sensation on my forearms and chest.

More balls of fire spiral toward us. Clove ducks down and the tip of her ponytail gets singed off. Marvel throws himself onto the ground and Glimmer screams hysterically as the ball of fire barely misses her legs. Cato jerks sideways avoiding the fireball.

I'm now relieved Cato sent Sheldon wherever he sent him. Not to be rude or anything, but Sheldon doesn't have the best reflexes. Neither do i, but I saw the fireball before it came into close range. Allowing me to move before it reached me.

We run again. This time I grip my side because of the pain I feel from the excessive amount of running. The burning pain I feel from where the fireball barley came into contact with my body isn't helping with the pain I feel in my side. Oh and not to mention the pain I feel in my chest from the smoke isn't too well either.

From the look of the flames I have to say this is no ordinary forest fire. This Gamemaker made forest fire. When the Gamemakers interfer with the games that is when the audience has become bored. We're most likely to run into another tribute soon.

We alternate from running to dodging fireballs to briefly catching our breath and then back to running. I can't say exactly how long we do this, but I can say that this by far the most excruciating thing I've ever done.

The wave of red soon diminishes. I guess we finally out ran it or we are close to another tribute. Most likely the latter. It takes us over five minutes to catch our breath.

"Sheldon had better gotten to the supplies by now," Cato speaks up. That's where he sent Sheldon. To check on the supplies. Cato probably hopes that the supplies didn't get burned by the fire. I doubt the fire spread that far.

I drink some water that I found in the little supplies that we brought with us. The cool water brings relief to my scorched throat. Once we are all rehydrated and have our strength back, we start walking our way toward the lake.

We walk and walk. Sunset quickly comes and the last few streaks of sunlight lighten behind the trees. I hear some splashes and I am certain I wasn't the only one. Cato takes off first after the sound. We follow shortly behind him. Apparently the thing making the splashing noise is another tribute.

The tribute runs quickly ahead of Cato. I'm certain the tribute's a girl. I can't see the girl very well. All she is a blur. Cato directs orders at us with his raspy voice.

The girl very ahead of us seems to run out of options and climbs a tree. Whoever she is, she climbs fast. Her braid flings from side to side as goes higher and higher. We've finally reached the tree she's at and- Wait she has a braid. I only know one tribute who would have a braid. The girl looks down at us and smiles.

"How's everything with you?"

My suspicions are now confirmed. It's _Katniss_.

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**Sorry this chapter took so long. I got sick and wasn't able to write. Have you seen the Capitol portraits? If you haven't seen them yet I suggest you do. Francis Lawrence did a great job with them. I was slightly disappointed with the Finnick portrait. Oh well, it was still good. Oh before I forget. Disclaimer: I own nothing of the masterpiece that is The Hunger Games.**

**Please do me the honor of reviewing. I would be internally grateful. Everyone please join me in the review dance. It's like a conga line of reviews. If you can review and get me to 25 reviews, I promise the next chapter will be longer and I try to update sooner. I'll see you in the next chapter.**

**~ secretTHGluver ~**


	18. THG: the watch

**Hello to you! So I want to just get on with the story already. I'll see you at the end of the chapter.**

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"How's everything with you?" Katniss calls down to us, a bit too cheerful for the Hunger Games.

"Well enough. Yourself?" Cato responds to her.

"It's been a bit warm for my taste," she says. I smile in my head. "The airs better up here. Why don't you come on up?" What the hell is she thinking?

"Think I will," says Cato. No, no, no! I have to stop him... I can't... No, Katniss is smart I'm sure she knows what she's doing. She's high up in that tree I doubt Cato would be able to climb that high. Whatever she's thinking I have to trust her. What else can I do. If I interfer, the Careers won't trust me anymore. Then there goes my plan.

I can't watch this. I stare down and notice that my knife is really dirty. I pull it out of my belt and begin to clean it with the end of my shirt. I'll do anything to distract myself from this moment.

"Here, take this, Cato," I hear Glimmer say handing Cato her bow and arrows. Suddenly I feel uncomfortable, like something's burning holes through my head. It must be Katniss. I can feel her glaring at me. She must be furious with me. I wouldn't blame her, I joined district twelve's enemies and I am helping them hunt her. Although I'm not sure if she knows that yet. I keep cleaning my knife. I'm ready to face her. I'm sure she wants to kill me.

"No, I'll do better with my sword," he replies pushing away her weapon. I allow my eyes to wander up. I see Cato hoist himself up and climb. Katniss climbs higher as well. I just  
hope she stays out of reach. I hear a branch snap and Cato falls to the ground with a loud thud. It really sounded like he might of broke something.

He begins to swear with some creatively. "Fuck! Shit! What a bitch!" He says a few other things. I just wish I didn't hear them. How dare he call Katniss such an awful name! Now I want to punch him. Katniss deserves respect.

"Glimmer, you try," Clove says. Glimmer does, but she's smart enough to climb back down once she hears the branches begin to snap. Now, Katniss is very up high in that tree. Glimmer tries to shot her, but she really doesn't know how to use a  
bow that its completely pointless. Only one made it close to Katniss. I watch as she yanks it out of the bark of the tree and raise it above her head teasingly. It takes a lot in me not to smile right now.

An arguement breaks out about what to do about her. I don't say anything. I'm too busy trying to think of a way to let her escape. Twilight falls over us and night will soon be upon us. The best I can do is stall for her. Finally, I've grown tired of them talking over each other I speak up.

"Oh, let her stay up there. It's not like she's going anywhere. We'll deal with her in the morning."

I get questionable looks from all of them. They must not trust me a hundred percent, but as long as Cato trusts me the others will have to as well.

"Alright. Set up camp," he says. They give him questionable looks now. He just keeps my gaze. After a moment of a mini stare down, he commands them. "Now! Build up a fire and check  
what supplies we have with us."

They do as he says and he walks away from me to help set up. I look up and see Katniss look down. Our eyes lock and I see betrayal and hurt in her eyes. I quickly drop my gaze and walk over to the group. If only she knew.

Darkness spreads throughout the arena and the anthem plays. I look up to where Katniss sits in the tree. She's higher up than the last time I glanced to her. I can't see much in the darkness, but I can tell she's moving. I hope by the time dawn comes, she will be long gone and far from this tree and far from the Careers.

The anthem stops and so does Katniss. My attention is brought back to the Careers when I hear them call to me.

"Loverboy," calls Marvels. I jerk my head to him.

"Yeah?" I respond. He has a small smirk on his face.

"Why'd you change your mind," he asks narrowing his eyes. No trust. None what so every. Have to question everything I do.

"Well, she's up there. With nowhere to go. Trapped. I doubt you'll find another opportunity like this. I rather just get this out of the way. To end it," I say matter-of-factly. He lifts his chin slightly. All of them stare at me. "Besides, once she's finished with. I can finally leave these Games. My body may be going back home in a wooden box, but my heart will be with hers."

They don't question me any futher. I believe they don't completely understand what it is I said. To them it sounded like both of us will be going home in a box. To me, I meant I  
was going home in a box, but my heart will be with Katniss as she returns home to her family. Her heart still beating.

We eat and they talk. I don't listen to a word they say. I sit against a nearby tree staring up at Katniss's tree. I volunteer for first watch, but they don't completely trust me so I'm on with Clove.

We sit in awkward silence for what I estimated was an hour. She cleans her array of knives and even practice throwing them. I watch her.

Her hand grips the blade. A swift flick of her wrist. The blade slices the air until it hits its target. She sees me  
watching her. A smirk appears on her face.

"You know, you remind me of my brother," Clove tells me. "He's naive too."

"How am I naive," I ask her.

She simply laughs and shakes her head. "I'm not even going to waste my time." Okay? What was the point of telling me that?

She goes back to throwing her knives and I allow my eyes to wonder back to Katniss's tree. I hope she's alright. I stay awake almost all night taking every shift with each of them. It isn't until Glimmer takes watch when I do fall asleep.

I dream of Katniss. I see each of the Careers kill her. I see Katniss die five times. The part of my dream was the very end of it. Cato commanded me to kill her. I stood in front of her with a sphere in my hand. I couldn't control nyself. Everything was moving on their own. As if I'm a puppet on strings. My arm pulls back and my fingers grip the sphere. I see myself send the sphere through her. That's when I awake to a loud crash.

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**Since I forgot to say the disclaimer in the beginning here it is.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the beloved hunger games. **

**Please leave me review. I accept members and guests. You can review in any language you like. But please review. Seeing reviews really make me happy. More than happy. And if you would please check out my new story Love Isn't Everything. I really wish to know how I'm doing with both stories. So please tell me in a review. Bye!**  
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**~secretTHGluver ~**


	19. THG: the tracker jackers

**So sorry it took so long to update! I had the misfortune to break my phone, so I had to wait over a week to get my replacement phone. **

**I had already started this chapter on my other phone, but by breaking it I have to start the chapter over again. I just hope my laptop gets fixed so I don't have to use my phone anymore. It really kills my battery. **

**Anyway, I'm sure you don't want to hear about my problems, so let's get to Peeta's problems. Let me think, where were we in the story... right, the tracker jacket scene. Continuing reading please. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the awesome creation called the Hunger Games.**

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My eyes snap open. I see the hard packed dirt floor in eye level. I fell asleep on my side. I get up and look around me. In a millisecond, I spot what looks like wasps filing out of a smashed nest that lies on the ground, mere ten feet away from me.

The girls' screams fill my ears. The wasps start buzzing around. A group of them charge at me. I'm on my feet now. From this view, I know now what they are. Tracker jackers. The others are on their feet too, not sure what to do.

"To the lake! To the lake!" I yell at them. Marvel starts yelling just like me. I sprint as fast as my legs can carry me. I glance back to make sure they're following me. I don't see Lucille or Glimmer, but I see the rest of them. The tracker jackets are there too. They're right on their tails. We keep running.

As I sprint for the lake, my thoughts wonder to Katniss. Did she do this? If she did, did she get away? Did she get stung? I hope not. Suddenly I feel a sharp pang behind my ear. I'm almost current that was a tracker jacket. Then I feel another one below the right side of my rib cage. This one causes me to give a yelp of pain.

We finally near the lake and the camp. Sheldon stands up alarmed when he sees us running toward him. I yell for him to run. He hesitates, but he runs in the same direction as the rest of us. I hear a canon go off, just as we all jump into the lake. I don't know how to swim so I stay in the waist high water.

I feel another stab of pain on my chest. I wince and go under the water. I count to thirty and come back up for air. As I do, I get stung again. I don't understand how they can sting me if half my body is underwater and my shirt and jacket is clinging to my skin. Never underestimate Capitol creations.

Behind me, in deeper water, Cato is screaming his head off. He has serious temperament issues.

"I swear I'll find her and kill her," he exclaims. "I'll tear her to fucking pieces! I'll hunt through the entire arena if I have to!"

From the tone of his voice and the look on his face, I can tell he's serious. He really wants to kill Katniss, and I don't think our deal matters anymore.

"Head back, search for her. She had to have been stung quite a few times to drop that nest!"

I'll do whatever I can to make sure they don't find her. My head already feels dizzy as I pull myself out of the water. I stagger a bit, just like Haymitch, but once I regain balance, I take off running in the direction I came from. I slam into a few trees and trip on fallen branches, but I keep going. I can hear Cato smashing through the bushes a fair distance behind me.

I smash through the brushes and see Katniss knelt down beside Glimmer. I hear Cato getting closer, I have to get her out of her. I thought she would have left already. She looks at me confused. I lower the spear that I subconsciously picked up at the camp.

"What are you still doing here," I hiss at her. She still looks confused. I can hear Cato coming closer. "Are you mad?" I ask her. She doesn't move. I poke her with the end of the spear. I can hear Cato coming closer.

"Get up! Get up!" She finally stands up, but confusion is still plastered on her face. "Run! Run!" I scream shoving her away from me, hard. She takes off running, glancing over her shoulder. I turn around and see Cato raising his short sword over his head.

"What the fuck! You little traiter!" he shouts at me. He swings his sword and I am blinded by a pain in my left leg. I don't dare look down at what he did, but I can see lots of blood on his sword. He raises the sword again, but this time, with the strength I have left, I run the opposite way Katniss ran.

I can feel inside my body. I am running on adrenaline. My legs are running by adrenaline. My arms are swinging as I run by adrenaline. My heart is pounding fast and hard with adrenaline. My vision begins to blur and my head feels like someone's trying to smash it with both hands. I start seeing what looks like stars. Patches of black cover parts of my vision.

I haven't felt this way since Seth had me in a headlock in our school's championship. I'm not even aware of crossing a river until I'm waist deep, but luckily that's as deep it goes. Once I've gotten across I get to a rocky area. I am completely out of breathe. I lay down on my back and try my best to control my breathing. I can't, it feels like its stuck in my throat and no matter what I do, I can't get it out. My mind is blank, except for one thing.

I saved Katniss's life. Then everything goes black.

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**Sorry about it being a short chapter and taking so long. I'll try my best to make the next chapter longer and not take a while to update. Buuuttt... I guess I would feel more confident about it and actually try my very best if you would please review and tell me what you think. Bye!**

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**~ secretTHGluver ~**


	20. THG: the last defense

**Hi! *waves hand like a maniac while she's a maniac plays in the background* oh gosh I'm sorry for not updating in like two weeks. So, I don't want to keep you waiting any longer so I present to you chapter twenty of Peeta's Story. **

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Nothing but darkness. Water droplets falling from the sky that I can't see. I can't see the water droplets either, but I can feel them and hear them fall. Suddenly, I feel like I'm melting away with the rain into deeper water. I go under, but I can't swim.

I submerge into a lake surrounded by trees. I'm bobbing in the motionless water, trying my best to keep my head above water. From the midst of the trees, Katniss appears with Gale following behind her. From where they stand, Katniss shouts out to me.

"I don't need you to protect me. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself," she says with disgust. "Even if I let you protect me. What can YOU do? Tell me that."

"What can a baker boy do?" Gale asks with a triumphant smile plastered on his face. Then I drown.

I awaken in my bed. I rub my eyes and sit up. It was all a dream. Katniss, Gale, the reaping, the games. It was a figment of my imagination. I get up and change into my casual clothing. I comb my hair with my fingers and open my bedroom door. My mother is standing there with an angered expression on her face.

"Why aren't you already up," she exclaims. "You were suppose to be preparing the dough before your father opens. Now, your brother had to do that for you. Why can't you do what you're suppose to do?"

She grabs my ear and tugs me to the kitchen counter.

"The least you can do is frost that cake," she says bitterly. "That is the Mayor's anniversary cake. So, don't mess it up, you worthless thing!"

My eyes slowly flutter open, but once revealed to the sunlight, they shut close. The light is too blinding. With my eyes close, I prop myself up on my elbows. Just that small task brings pain to almost every part of my body. I open my eyes just a squint and see a mixed blur of brown, green, and a hint of pale blue. I blink repeatedly until my vision adjusts to the brightness.

With my vision now clear, I take in my surroundings. There are brown trunks around me and tilting my head back slightly I see green leaves sprouting off the branches. I look up at the bits of sky I can see through the foliage. It's probably some time before noon.

I'm not dead. Not yet. I'm still in the arena. I'm still in the games.

I somehow get myself into a sitting position. I have never felt so much pain in my life. Not when wrestling. Not when I burn myself baking. Not even when being struck by my mother. All those, I can clench my teeth and the pain would soon pass. I can't do that here. The only thing I can do is wait to die.

I have idea how long I've been out and no way of knowing. I don't even know if Katniss is still alive. No, I'm sure she is. Haymitch wouldn't let her die. He just can't. Please still be alive, Katniss.

My dry throat is what breaks me from my thoughts. There is that river only a few feet away. I can do that... I think. I'll just have to be very careful with my leg.

I take a look at it, a good look. Cato cut it deep down. All the way to the bone. My leg is slightly swollen, but from the small amount of time I took observing it, the leg had swollen even more.

After a few failed attempts, I manage to limp over to the river. I lean down and scoop a handful of water and put it to my chapped lips. I heard that if you're extremely thirsty, then water would taste so much more refreshing. They were right. This is the best water I have ever tasted, even if it wasn't disinfected. I don't care. I'm going to die anyways. Might as well die with as much comfort as possible, but I'm too much in the open.

If a tribute was to come this way, they would see me. I force myself to move. The farther away I get from the river, the more rocky and muddy the ground becomes. I try to focus on where I am in case I get lost, but I can't stay focused.

I'm not even aware of where I'm going. I notice that I'm smearing blood. Surely something would come across my trail and hunt me down, tribute or animal. I have nothing to clean it off with, so I try to wipe it off with my hand. It only makes it worse. I suddenly feel dizzy. With every step I take I lose more and more blood.

I finally stop when I can't walk any farther. I can tell I'm near blacking out. I sit below a large rock in the mud. I have an idea. The last defense of the dying. Camouflage. I scoop up a handful of mud and spread it around my right leg. I get more mud and spread it around my lower left leg. I do this over and over again until my whole lower body is layered with mud. I made sure to be careful around my swollen leg. Then, I pull out surrounding plants and stick them around me and on top of me. I lay down on my back and cover my torso with mud. I feel a bit weird at first, but I ignore the feeling. Then, I put mud on my shoulders and neck. My face is the hardest part. I can't see what I'm doing, so I have to feel what I'm doing. I'm careful from getting mud in my eyes, nose, and mouth. I actually got some in my mouth. It didn't taste too well. I put weeds and moss on my stomach and collarbone, even behind my ear. Once, I'm done with that, I put my arms to my sides and use my left arm to decorate my right and my right to decorate my left.

Then, I just lay there. My head still hurts, so I close my eyes and rest. I'm certain I won't last much longer in these games. I drift off to sleep. I am awaken by the boom of the anthem. There were no deaths today. I wonder if anyone died while I was out. Once it's over, I drift off to sleep again.

Each time, I drift off to sleep, I dream of Katniss. I like to think of my dreams as the source of my comfort.  
While I'm awake, I think of home. I think of my family. I think of my friends. I'm sure Calum and Delly are worried about me. So, would be my father and brothers. I think of their futures. I always pictured Calum and Delly getting married and having children. Of course, their children would have to face the Reaping. I don't think any child should have to face that, but that can't be changed.

Suddenly, I hear multiple boomings in the distance. That was most definitely the Careers' campsite. Their supplies exploded. What worries me is who set it off?

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the The Hunger Games.**  
**I hope you liked it. I'm sorry if it was short. Well, it felt short to me. Anyway, please review. Members and Guests, please leave a review. I want to know from all you that I'm doing good with this story. I need some reassurance here. I want to hear more from the readers.**

**~SecretTHGluver~**


	21. THG: the rule change

**WOW! We are at chapter 21. I can't believe it! I remember typing out the first chapter on my beloved laptop (which is now broken) and uploading it to fan fiction as if it was yesterday. Time flies, doesn't it? Anyway, I don't want to bore all of you with unimportant stuff so here it is. **

**Disclaimer: I will never deserve to own The Hunger Games in a million years.**

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Immediately after the explosion rang throughout the arena, my ears picked up the sound of shouting. In the distance, I can make out three figures sprinting through the trees. They may pass a blur, but I do recognize them as Cato, Clove, and Marvel.

Just as I'm about to wonder where Glimmer and Lucille are, scenes from the tracker jacker tree flash through my mind.

Both are dead. Both are gone from this world. Both left to wherever you go after this life.

That is where I want to go, but for some reason Death has not taken me. I know I am severely injured and dieting as time passes. Why can't Death take me? What more do I have to go through? I want the pain to stop. Every time I try to move even just an inch of my body, it screams and protests at me causing me to wince from the pain. There is nothing for me to do, so I close my eyes and find sleep again.

I couldn't have asked for a more perfect dream. Nothing right now can comfort me more than the dream I am experiencing. I am in a world of Katniss, now. Almost every beautiful memory I have of her appears.

Katniss on the very first day of school. My father pointing her out to me while lining up. Her red plaid dress and her hair braided in two. My father telling me of her mother. Katniss in music assembly, singing the Valley Song. Every bird outside stopped to listen. The teacher helping Katniss off the stool and telling her she has a lovely voice. To me, Katniss's voice was more than lovely. It was the most beautiful thing I had every heard. That was the day I first fell in love with her.

Katniss at fourteen years old, trading with my father at the back door of the bakery. I watch from my bedroom window. She carries a bag slung over her shoulder and two squirrels in her hand. I watch as my father takes the two squirrels from her gently and weighs them in his hand. He nods his head and walks in side. He reappears with two fine loaves of bread. He hands them to her and says thank you. She graciously take them and my closes the door. I watch her as raises both loaves close to her nose and takes a whiff. A smile spreads across her face as she walks out of view.

Katniss sitting across from Madge Undersee, the mayor's daughter, eating lunch and occasionally glancing around the room. I watch her, every movement. I see the way she twiddles her fork between her forefinger and middle finger. I see the way she pushes the hair that had escaped her braid behind her ear to keep it from her tray of food. My best friend Calum pokes his finger into my side and nudges my shoulder asking me why I keep zoning out. I would just shake him off and from the corner of my eye, see him give me a crooked smirk.

Katniss with her beautiful brown hair in its signature braid and Prim with a blonde braid over each shoulder stopping at the bakery display window. Prim gawking at the cakes I had recently iced for display. Katniss giving her a sweet smile before locking eyes with me just for a moment and pulling her sister away from the window and continuing walking.

This is how I want to remember her. The girl from home. The girl who didn't talk to anyone at school. The girl who went beyond the fence of District Twelve. The girl who had the guts to go into the Hob alone. The girl who protected her sister at any cost. The girl I was in love with.

Suddenly, I am awaken by the boom of the canon. Shortly after, I hear the sound of chirping. mockingjays. I can hear it in the distance. The mockingjays are singing a tune. The tune is almost sad, but at the same time comforting. Another canon goes off. Two people just died, but what about the birds? The mockingjays must have picked up the tune from somewhere, but where. From who?

A hovercraft materializes a fair distance from my current location. It lowers down into the trees slightly. Then it disappears from the sky. I wonder who it was. I guess I'll have to wait until tonight to find out who. I close my eyes once again and darkness pulls me under.

I reawaken to the sound of the anthem. I slowly blink my eyes open to see a blurry image of the seal. It transitions to Marvel. Then, the little girl from 11. I can't believe it. Marvel is dead and not just him. That little girl, the twelve-year-old, is gone. She was just a kid. I can't believe the Capitol allows this. No, created this. She hardly got to enjoy her life.

The next day is uneventful. So, I spend most of it dreaming. I dream of home, my family, Katniss, her family, and my friends. When I'm not asleep, I'm thinking. I'm not really thinking. Just imagining. I think of the future.

Katniss will win and go home. Then, Katniss and her family will all move into the Victor's Village. Sooner or later, she and Gale will marry just like everyone in the Hob said they would. Katniss will have beautiful children that look like her. Katniss and Gale will teach them to be magnificent hunters. Prim hopefully won't have to ever face the Games and she'll fall in love and marry. She will probably become a healer just like her mother.

My eldest brother, Brody, will take over the bakery with his wife. They'll have children and Brody will teach them to bake. Rye will most likely marry into another business or he will co-own the bakery with Brody. My dad and mother will watch over my brothers, well at least my dad will. Everyone's lives will continue without me... and I'm perfectly fine with that.

I must have doze off because the next thing I know it's night-time and the anthem is playing. The seal appears, but nothing else. There were no deaths today. Just as I'm about to close my eyes, trumpets play. Normally in the games, trumpets mean a feast, but something else is being announced.

"Attention, tributes. Attention. The rule allowing a single victor has been... suspended. Two tributes may be crowned if both originate from the same district. This will be the only announcement," says Claudius Templesmith.

So, two tributes can win if they're from the same district. Why would they change the rules? I didn't even think there were rules to the games. Except for the unspoken rule of not eating each other. There had to have been a reason behind the rule change. Could it have been... no, that's ridiculous. Of course, it may be a possibility. There would be no other logical explanation as of why the Gamemakers are allowing two tributes a chance to win. We must be popular over the audience for them to give us a chance to both live. Well, it was a waste of their efforts. Katniss would never find me, let alone look for me.

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**I hope you liked the chapter. The next one may be up next week. I just want to tell all of you reading this that I LOVE YOU ALL! I love the readers who leave reviews and favorite and follow this story. I even love the readers who don't have the time to review or just don't want to review. I just love you all are reading. That's just what I care about the most. The fact that a lot of you are still reading this story after 21 chapters. Just…THANK YOU!**

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**~ secretTHGluver ~**


	22. THG: the star-crossed lovers

**3...2...1.. Hi everyone, welcome back to Peeta's Story. I'd like to start off thanking all of you for sticking around for the continuation of this story, even though I haven't been updating regularly. It means so much to me. So, I'm going to let you read on to the story now. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or its characters. **

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"Peeta..." a voice whispers from within the surrounding darkness. "Peeta... ," it says. I don't know where I am. I can see nothing. Not my hands. Not the floor or sky, but I can sense that something is there. I search and search, but there isn't anything to find. There's nothing, but black. I call after her until my throat hurts. My mind races a mile a minute. Where is she? Is she okay? Is she hurt? Why is Prim calling for me?

Suddenly, something materializes behind me. I whirl around and see Prim. I stare at her meticulously. Her blonde hair, although slightly tinted by our surroundings, is in two braids just like at the Reaping. She still wears the skirt and ruffled blouse from that day. She appears as if she hasn't changed at all, but there's something different. She seems agitated. Maybe at me...

"How dare you," she says barely over a whisper. "How could you? Why did you do it?"

Her voice has risen to a shout. I have never heard her yell before. I mean, she did cry out at the Reaping, but here she sounds angry, not scared for her sister's life. I'm utterly confused. She is accusing me of something, but I don't know what I did. I open my mouth to ask, but she stops me.

"No," she says through gritted teeth. "I rather not know. You, of all people. I thought you were kind, generous, and gentle, but you're not! I guess your true colors showed the very first day of the games. You lied to the whole country! You're a liar!"

"I didn't lie. I was trying to help her, I swear," I try to reason. "I was -"

"No, you weren't," she exclaims. Tears are now rolling down her cheeks. "You joined the Careers. District Twelve tributes never join them! You helped them get to her, to my sister! She could be dead right now, but you wouldn't know about that because you've been lying useless by a river, covered head-to-toe in mud!"

I think she may be done ..scolding me, but then she says something that I will never be able to unhear.

"I thought you were a good guy," she says barely audible. I have no time to respond because she's swallowed up by the darkness.

What she said begins to sink in. I thought I was a good guy too. Now, I'm not so sure. Everything I did was to help Katniss, but did it really help her? Could I have possibly made it worse for her?

My eyes snap open at a sound I can't quite place. My ears prick up. I can barely hear the sound of a mockingjay. It sounds like its calling my name. Could it have been a hallucination? Simply a figment of my imagination. I had just dismissed it as my mind playing tricks on me when I hear it again. This time followed by the soft muffled sounds of footsteps.

I scan my surroundings. I barely get a glimpse of what I assume is Katniss. I shut my eyes and slow my breathing. Right when I hear her feet fall close to me, I speak as loud as I dare.

"You here to finish me off, sweetheart."

I hear myself speak for the first time in days. I sound hoarse and weak, the very opposite of what I'm used to hearing. I hear her feet swirl in the mud.

"Peeta?" she whispers. "Where are you?"

I listen intently as she comes nearer and nearer.

"Peeta?" she whispers once again. From her voice, I can tell she is dangerously close to me. I think if I stuck out my arm, I would be able to grab her ankle.

"Well, don't step on me."

She jumps back splattering fresh mud onto the side of my face. I allow my eyes to open. She looks frighteningly beautiful at first, but her expression is so ridiculous that I actually laugh. I watch her as she regains her composure.

"Close your eyes again," she orders and I, of course, obey. I can feel her eyes studying the artwork on my body. "I guess all those hours decorating cakes paid off."

My lips turn up in a smile. "Yes, frosting. The final defense of the dying."

"You're not going to die," she tells me. Yes, I am. And ... I'm fine with it. Especially, now that I know she's alive and well. Unless, this is just another hallucination. No, I don't think it is. She's seems pretty real to me.

"Says who?" I ask. My voice is really ragged.

"Says me. We're on the same team now, you know," Katniss says.

I open my eyes again. "So, I heard. Nice of you to find what's left of me."

She reaches into the side of her backpack and pulls out a water bottle. She puts it to my lips and tilting it back I drink the first sip of water I had in days. The water feels good as it spreads over my cracked lips and dry tongue.

"Did Cato cut you?" she asks.

"Left leg. Up high," I inform her.

Her head turns to the stream and then back at me. "Let's get you in the stream, wash you off so I can see what kind of wounds you've got," she says. At least that's what I think she said. My mind is buzzing. I think I may be at a loss of inhibitions.

"Lean down a minute first," I say. "Need to tell you something."

She gives me a weird look before putting her right ear close to my mouth. I whisper to her, causing her to flinch slightly.

"Remember, we're madly in love, so it's all right to kiss me anytime you feel like it."

I'm for sure at a loss of inhibitions. Maybe when you're close to death, you're given false confidence to speak your unspoken thoughts.

She jerks her head back laughing. That wasn't the reaction I was expecting, but I actually made her laugh. And I mean really laugh. I like her laugh. "Thanks I'll keep it in mind."

She attempts to help me to the stream, but the slightest movement causes an intense flash of pain. I try my best to not cry out, but the pain is so bad that I can't help it. The more she tries to help me, the more it hurts. She full on tries to drag me, but my weight and the weeds prevent her. She gives tug after tug until I'm free from their clutches. Then, she stops all together. I watch her blurred figure through my tears and keep my teeth gritted in attempt to overcome the pain. Soon enough I feel a warm sticky liquid trickle down the side of my leg.

"Look, Peeta, I'm going to roll you into the stream. It's very shallow here, okay?" she says. I don't know how she's going to manage to do that, but at least she sounds determined.

"Excellent," I manage to say.

She crouches down next to me and places one hand on my shoulder and the other on my hip. "On three." Think light. Think light. "One, two, three!"

We manage one roll before she stops. And I think I know why. She stopped because of the sound I was making. Even I'm surprised by how horrid I sounded.

"Okay, change of plans. I'm not going to put you all the way in," she tells me.

"No more rolling?"

"That's all done. Let's get you cleaned up. Keep an eye on the woods for me, okay?" she says.

"Sounds good," I say breathlessly. That roll really winded me. I alternate from watching the woods to watching Katniss hesitantly pick off the weeds.

Once the weeds are gone and it's just mud, she props two bottles and a water skin against rocks in the stream to fill. She takes one and pours it over the caked mud. She repeats this process over and over again until she reaches my clothes. She looks relieved when she sees them. She seriously didn't think I was naked, did she?

I admit that I get kind of tingly when she unzips my jacket and unbuttons my shirt. I know notice that my undershirt is sticking to my skin. Katniss has to cut it away with her knife and drench me once again. Then, she looks over the wounds on my upper body.

"Okay, let's get you out of this puddle before I treat your wounds," she tells me. I agree. It's kind of pointless to clean up wounds in a muddy puddle.

It takes a lot in me and probably Katniss as well, but we manage to get me sitting against a boulder. My eyes follow her as she walks to the stream to pick up a water bottle. They start to close. After all the tugging of my limbs, I just feel so tired. I barely even notice Katniss as she pours the water over my head with one hand and the other runs through my hair.

I finally start to come back when she rinses off my bare chest. Every spot her fingers touch leaves a burning sensation. My arms get goosebumps and there's this stirring in the pit of my stomach. My heart pounds against my chest.

The first thing she tends to is the tracker jacker stings. They have grown in size. Katniss digs out what I think are the stingers. I wince everytime she gets one out. With them out, the tracker jacker lumps begin to sting with refound pain. But after Katniss applies these mushy leaves that she put in her mouth, the pain instantly vanishes.

"I'll go wash your shirt while you dry off," she says gathering my shirt and jacket in her arms. She doesn't even wait for an answer. She dips them into the stream and beats them against rocks. After that she spreads them across boulders. During the whole time she does that, I try to fight off the drowsiness that's beginning to over take me.

Katniss startles me when she applies a cool cream to my chest. Instantly, I feel relief and the warmth that radiates from beneath her fingertips as they glide over the burn, feels welcoming. The look of concern crosses her face. She begins to look through her first aid kit anxiously. She takes something in her hand and gives it to me.

"Swallow these," she says. I obediently take the pills. "You must be hungry."

"Not really. It's funny, I haven't been hungry for days," I tell her. Honestly, I haven't ate anything and food hasn't even crossed my mind until she brought it up.

"Here. Can you at least try to eat a piece of groosling," she says offering me a piece. My nose wrinkles in disgust and I turn away from it. "Peeta, we need to get some food in you."

"It'll just come right back up," I tell her. Just the smell  
of that groosling made me feel nauseous.

Katniss won't take no for an answer, so she hands me dried apples and orders me to eat a little bit of it. She is getting frustrated with me, I can feel it. So I do as she says to make her feel better, even though it makes me even more nauseous than before.

"Thanks. I'm much better, really. Can I sleep now, Katniss?"

"Soon," she promises. "I need to look at your leg, first."

She gently takes off my boots and socks. They're placed off to the side on the flat rock. As she unbuttons my pants, the feeling returns. That natural stirring that just makes me feel funny inside. I force that feeling away as she eases my pants off. The nausea's back at the sight of my own leg. It looks awful.

The whole thigh is swollen and stinks of festering flesh. The cut itself is deep and inflamed oozing both blood and pus. I tear my eyes away from my leg to Katniss. She looks like she wants to be anywhere but here.

"Pretty awful, huh?" I ask.

"So-so," she says trying to sound nonchalant, but ultimately failing. "You should see some of the people they bring my mother from the mines."

I have. Everyone has. Not much happens in District Twelve. So, when a group of people surrounding someone, hastily making their way to the Seam leaving a trail of coal dust and blood, people are going to pay attention.

"The first thing is to clean it well."

Katniss manages to slide a plastic square beneath me. She then pours water over my lower body, but as the water washes over the wound, it appears worse. She quickly takes care of the tracker jacker sting and a few burns, but she stares unsure at cut.

"Why don't we give it some air and then ... " she says trailing off.

"And then you'll patch it up?" I ask. Katniss is staring down at my leg while chewing on her bottom lip. This is the first time I see her not knowing what to do. Her weary, nervous expression unsettles me. She shouldn't have to deal with me. I'm a lost cause. She should be out there trying to win this.

"That's right," she says. "In the meantime, you eat these."

She puts dried pear halves in my hand and goes to wash the rest of my clothes. To pass time, I study the pear halves. I try to imagine what I'd be like to pain them. By the time I've memorized them, Katniss had laid my clothes to dry and is currently rummaging through that first-aid kit of hers. I wonder where she got it. Possibly Haymitch sent it to her.

"We're going to have to experiment some," she admits. She starts with chewed-up green leaves of some sort. Within minutes, pus begins to run down the side of my leg.

To keep myself from throwing up the dried fruit, I keep my eyes on anything but the wound. Eventually, my eyes land on Katniss. She's chewing on the inside of her cheek and turning slightly green. She needs a distraction.

"Katniss?" I ask. Her eyes meet mine. Say something, Peeta. Distract her from your horrendous leg. Come on, say something. "How about that kiss?" I mouth.

She bursts out laughing almost immediately. Is the idea of kissing me that ridiculous? This is just like those scenarios that I make up in my head whenever I push myself to try to talk to her. It's normally the same scenario in my head. I go over to her and try talking , but Gale strolls over and makes a comment about my insecurities. Then, they both laugh in my face and I walk away with my head down.

But this time, its real. This is real. Normally, everything in your mind is an exaggeration of reality, but she really did just burst out laughing. Why would she laugh at me like that? What did I do wrong?

"Something wrong?" I ask her.

"I ... I'm no good at this. I'm not my mother. I've no idea what I'm doing and I hate pus," Katniss says. "Euh!" She let's out a groan as she rinses away the leaves and applies a fresh batch of them. "Euuuh!"

I feel a smile creeping on face. "How do you hunt?" I ask. I hope the audience doesn't pick on the idea that she hunts illegally. I don't want her to get in trouble.

"Trust me. Killing things is much easier than this," she says with the hint of a smirk. "Although for all I know, I am killing you."

"Can you speed it up a little?" I joke.

"No. Shut up and eat your pears."

I do as she says because this time she's watching me. Well, I didn't get a kiss, but I did get something else. And I'm not talking about the pears. Katniss admitted weakness. She admitted to me that she didn't know what she was doing. To anyone else this wouldn't mean anything, but to me it means she's starting to trust me. Her trust is something I've always wanted.

After three applications of chewed leaves and a lot of pus, it doesn't look so bad. Well, it does look bad. I mean, I can see the bone, but at least the swelling has gone down.

"What next, Dr. Everdeen?"

"Maybe I'll put some of the burn ointment on it. I think it helps with infection anyway. And wrap it up?" she says. She does exactly that. Then, Katniss tilts her head to the side glancing between my undershorts and the bandage. She reaches for a backpack. "Here, cover yourself with this and I'll wash your shorts."

"Oh, I don't care if you see me," I say. Nudity doesn't have much of an impact on me.

"You're just like the rest of my family," she says. "I care, all right?" She turns her back to me. So, the lethal hunter is uncomfortable when it comes to nudity. I would have never guessed. I cover myself with the backpack as I slowly pull off the shorts. Hopefully, if I did this correctly, I didn't expose myself to the cameras. I grip the shorts in one hand and throw them toward the stream.

"You know, you're kind of squeamish for such a lethal person," I say. "I wish I'd let you give Haymitch a shower after all."

Her nose wrinkles in disgust. "What's he sent you so far?"

"Not a thing," I respond. Then, it hits me. The question sounded as if she had gotten something and is just curious to know if I had gotten something as well. "Why, did you get something?"

She stops what she's doing and looks over at me. Her cheeks turn a little red with guilt. "Burn medicine," she says a bit sheepishly. "Oh, and some bread."

I give a knowing smile. "I always knew you were his favorite."

"Please, he can't stand being in the same room with me."

"Because you're just alike," I mutter.

With occasional small talk, I eventually doze off. It isn't long until Katniss wakes me.

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**Again, I apologize for not updating lately. I hope this long chapter makes up for it. Until next time (which I promise will be soon), my awesome readers.**

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**~ secretTHGluver ~**


	23. THG: the cave

**So, we've reached chapter 23, which is my favorite number. **

**Disclaimer: I've said it over and over again. I think you get it by now. I obviously don't own the hunger games. **

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Sitting there with my head between my knees and my eyes fixed upon a crack in the drying mud, I realize two things. One: I'm a heavy burden that endangers Katniss the longer she persists to help me. Two: I'm starting to feel a sharp pain where Katniss is awkwardly patting my back.

Why couldn't she have left me back upstream? I was peacefully dying before she found me. I'm not taking what she did for granted, but she didn't have to put herself at risk to try to fix me up. I'm going to die. I can feel it deep inside me. I'm a lost cause and I'm sure she knows that as well. So why team up with me anyways?

I shift my head so I could get a look at her. Her grey eyes scan all around us. They look upstream and downstream, but they always return to the woods. Everytime her eyes linger over a tree, she chews her bottom lip and you can see the longing in them. Katniss wants to get me up in a tree.

Up in a tree is for sure not an option. I barely made it fifty yards downstream, propped up on her shoulder, before my vision blurred and the world around me started to spin. She reluctantly sat me down and pushed my head between my knees to get some blood flow back to my brain.

"Do you think you're able to stand," she asks after a while of staring at the rocks behind us. I nod and slowly make myself stand. I have to shift my weight to the right to ease some of the pain on the left.

Katniss slips her arm under mine and grips my shirt securely. She leads me a littles way above the stream toward the rocky terrain. We stop at the opening of a fair size cave. Katniss lets me sit infront of the opening. I sit there panting, shivering, and my skin white.

Katniss has me watch the woods while she sets up inside the cave. Occasionally, she steps outside to gather pine needles.

Once, she judges it suitable for our situation, she helps me inside. The first thing I register is the layer of pine needles blanketing the stone floor and a sleeping bag laying off to the side. The cave is larger than I expected. Sure, the mouth of the cave isn't very wide, but it runs longer on the inside.

When Katniss tucks me into the sleeping bag, I get a faint memory of home. I'm just a little boy, no more than four years old. I'm in the bakery with my dad. I start to doze off against the counter. My dad picks me up and carries me to my bedroom. He lays me under the covers and tucks me in. It's an odd parrell to Katniss tucking me in now.

I'm so into my thoughts, I don't even notice that Katniss gave me pills until after I had already washed it down with water. Again, she tries to force fruit on me. My stomach ache barely went away, I don't really want to bring it back. She leaves them next to me incase I change my mind.

Laying here alone with just me and my thoughts, I start to wonder. What's going on back home? My brothers will be watching and supporting, just as my dad. Seth will without a doubt try to use the my-little-brother's-in-the-games-right-now card with the girls. Mother would be watching, but she won't be cheering with everyone else. She probably hopes I die in here, so that way she doesn't have to face me if I make it back. If I make it back.

Katniss re-enters the cave with a bundle of vines. My eyes immediately lock on her face. She sits with her legs crossed while she makes a sort of blanket with the vines. Determination shines on her face. She's really concentrating on those vines. Her grey eyes become hard and a crease forms between her eyebrows. Whenever she messes up, her jaw clenches. After some time, she tries to cover up the opening of the cave. Right away she tears it down with frustration.

Fire. A red, hot fire burning within her. That fire keeps her alive. I think she has enough fire to keep both of us alive. She went through all that trouble to find me and then fix me up even if it disgusts her. She won't let me die.

"Katniss," I say getting her attention. She sits down next to me. Her small fingers gently brush back the hair from my eyes. It feels so relaxing. A sympathetic smile forms on her lips. "Thanks for finding me."

"You would have found me if you could," she says with her hand still resting on my forehead. Concern flashes across her face. But as quickly as it came, it's gone Something's wrong, but she won't tell me. Maybe she's starting to realize that I most likely won't make it out of here. I need to tell her the truth. I know Haymitch told her that I told everyone to help get her sponsors, but she deserves to know that what I said was more than just about sponsors. I may never get another chance like this.

"Yes. Look if I don't make it back-" I begin.

"Don't talk like that. I didn't drain all that pus for nothing," she says. No, she really needs to hear this.

"I know. But just in case I don't-" I say propping myself upon my elbows.

"No, Peeta, I don't even want to discuss it," she says placing her finger to my lips as if that will silence me.

"But, I-"

The thing that happens next is something I would have never thought I would happen. A kiss from Katniss Everdeen. The girl I've been in love with since I was five. I may never get another one, so I try my best to savour it. The movement of her lips against mine. Heat radiating from her lips, or maybe from mine. I can't tell. I mostly just feel heat. Too quickly she pulls away. The sleeping bag gets pulled up around me.

"You're not going to die. I forbid it. All right?" she says raising her eyebrow. When she said that, it sounded as if she was scolding a child, but not as mean. Just serious. There's no other option here besides agreeing with her. So, I agreed. "I'm going to be right back, so don't move."

"Don't worry. I don't think I could even if I wanted to," I joke. She looks at me dead serious. Then walks out.

My first kiss. It wasn't how I imagined it would be. At least it was a little better than my actual first kiss. The one that we decided never happened. My first actual kiss was with Delly, but it wasn't romantic or anything.

We were young, I think it was 12 or 13, and we were hangin out behind the bakery playing a game. Our friends were there playing the game as well. I don't remember what game it was, but I do know that Namen was the one who created it. So, in the end it was me and Delly. We were forced to kiss. So, Delly gripped my shirt and pulled me to her. It was a short kiss. Once, everone left and it was just me and her, we talked about it. We both decided it didn't feel right and moved past it. We never spoke about it again.

My friends. I miss them. I close my eyes and try to conjure up an image of them. Slowly, as if emerging from the darkness, they appear. They all have warm smiles on their faces and they just look like ... home. One by one they disappear. The darkness soon consumes me.

The next thing I know, something is kissing me. An image of girl with a brown braid comes into view. Katniss. She kissed me again. I never pegged her as an affectionate person.

"Peeta, look what Haymitch sent you," she says lifting a pot in front of me.

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**So sorry it was short. I'll try to make the next one longer. Thank you everyone who reviewed, followed, or favorited. It means so much to me that you take the time to do that Anyway, please tell me what you guys think in a review. It's greatly appreciated. **

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** ~ secretTHGluver ~**


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